Ever wondered where those board names come from?
No matter if working on a powdersurf, snowboard or splitboard shape, there always comes a point when you need a name for the new creation.
Somehow i started with spanish names when i started to build boards and sticked with it ever since. Don't get me wrong, i'm very far from being spanish speaking and i'm also not afraid to use the words in a freestyle way.
The goal is to find a name that fits, sounds good, looks nice and is easy to pronounce.
Here a little insight, what's behind the names of the current shapes:
ALADO, the short versatile powsurf device, that's mostly meant to shred the powder close by. Close by is al lado in spanish, put it together, eliminate one l and there you have it. Not exactly a stroke of genius, a good one nonetheless.
AMANO, the powdersurf blank which still needs to be shaped and finished. Meaning you still have to take matters in your very own hands. Guess what that means in spanish? Yes, in a way it's that simple and then it's not.
VOLATO, the skate flavoured powdersurf gadget that definitely is meant for jumps and going backwards. Made obvious by the outline that got a good portion of a twin shape. And this time it's a bit of a freestyle creation. Volar means flying, volteo turning around or a thing that can be used in more than one direction and then it morphed into VOLATO. Details lost, result still decent.
COLON, the numero uno of the bindingless quiver. The name can actually be also quite delicate, but let's just spare you one meaning of the word. As there are more than one which helped choosing this name.
Colear means quick turning, colon means the main part of a certain collection and colon is also the spanish last name of a very famous explorer. And powdersurfing has always been about exloring for me. And no matter how things go, when you're exploring, some things simply happen by chance and this can even be major steps.
And as the story goes that happened to this very man too. On top there is this idiom about the egg of the columbus, how there are always very simple solutions to problems that seem unsolvable as first. Which also relate to the process of developing boards like this.
As this is a rather long explanation i mostly answer COLON means agile device which is only partly true, but surely fits the character of this board.
MALAS, the extra surf and floaty shape. This name actually refers to possible misinterpretations of how the shape actually works. On top it just sounds good and there are similarities between the looks of the word and the shape.
PANDOS, currently the longest powdersurfing shape available. And the one i worked on the most, as the longer a board is the more you can feel how the 3D design actually works. The 3D design is defined by bended curves in several directions. The spanish word pandeo describes this very well and as the shape has two ends i simply mixed pandeo and dos.
KANTAR, a playful weapon of a snowboard. There's no rule without an exception and so this name is hungarian for reins. And this board is definitely for riders who want hold the reins in their hands. And feel free to tighten or slacken them at any moment.
NEVADO, a versatile and agile missile of a snowboard. Nevado means covered by snow and yes this board is meant to satify on any snow-covered ground. But there's three more reasons for that name. The shape had a forerunner with quite a similar name and i preferred a name that honours the roots of this shape. Secondly the sound of the name just has a certain dynamic to it, quite like the shape. When nature gets covered by snow, everything just becomes a bit smoother. And there's a big portion of smoothness in most details of this shape.
To be honest i like some names more than others and probably i always like the newest ones the most, as there are already more settled ones for upcoming shapes.
But it always feels good to make decisions along the way and then go from there. That's how i progress in general, if you try to make too much decisions at once, things can get overwhelming.So just go step by step and even so you most likely would decide about certain details differently later, it's just part of the story and you will still reach a great result.
The lettering of the names as they appear on the boards were handwritten by Natalis Lorenz. He's hailing from Neckarsulm and does some great art. Check out more of his stuff here or there.