Rolling Vapors: The Sic Nature of Andy Howell

Andy Howell is originally from the East Coast Virginia Beach/Mount Trashmore and later Atlanta scene. Its kinda funny that a guy who is known for helping set the tone for the coming street skating revolution in the '90's was also a pretty good vert skater and not from the skateboard mecca of California. As a professional skateboarder, artist, entrepreneur, skate and clothing brand owner, and rapper, he is one of those unique and talented individuals that was able to cross the boundaries of commericial and fine art, business and underground aspects of skate culture, and be amazingly successful at it. Here is his story.

*As a teenager he made his own skate 'zines called Sic Nature.

*Tony Hawk's first 'fan' letter came from Andy Howell before Tony went on to become the successful phenomenon he is known of as today.

*Attended art school in Atlanta, Georgia.
*He entered himself as an unsponsored pro at Savannah Slamma in Atlanta, Georgia and got picked up by Schmitt Stix.

*Drew his own board graphics for his first Schmitt Stix model that came out in 1989.

*Started New Deal with Paul Schmitt and Steve Douglas in 1990 to break away from Vision.

*Also started (Underworld) Element Skateboards, Giant Distribution, (Zero) Sophisto Clothing, and 411 Video Magazine.

New Deal was pretty much a huge break from the '80's style of skulls and graphic design with its crayon-looking logo and graffiti slash hip-hop influenced artwork and urban aesthetic. Andy was the creative director and Paul 'Professor' Schmitt was at the forefront of new concaves and board shapes (he even had his own secret wood shop to develop board technology).

Vert was seriously in decline and the 80's were officially over. The rock-star and punk vibes were played out and with that the baggy pants, small wheels and longer noses on boards were the new 'in' thing. It was more accessible to the average skater who didn't have ramps but did have the never ending streets laid out before them as their new working domain. Street skating took a nod from the freestyle guys as far as the evolution of tricks were concerned. But instead of just skating in one stationary spot, the new generation was applying itself to more aspects of the urban environment including stairs, rails, and ledges.

All of this was being documented in the low budget DIY style and came out in the form of the New Deal Promo Video, Useless Wooden Toys, 1281, etc. This is also around the time that 411 video magazine started coming out, and it came directly out of the New Deal camp as well, with Andy at the creative helm. He designed everything from the logos and visual cues to the segues and music choices. A true innovator. You might even remember his Big Deals, which were the first huge fitted baggy pants marketed to board-shops under the New Deal brand.

Andy was quite prolific at this time as far as board graphic output was concerned. Shapes were heading toward the standard popsicle shape and there were beginning to be more pros than you could shake a stick at. This was mostly due to brands like New Deal and World Industries bringing vast amounts of new faces into the talent pool. New Deal did in fact have quite a few riders during its life in the 90's. There were some great names on the roster, including Armando Barajas, Ron Knigge, Thomas Taylor, Justin Girard, Tim Brauch, John Montesi, Chris Hall, Andrew Morrison, Danny Sargeant, Rick Ibaseta, Neal Hendrix, and Ed Templeton, and others, as seen in 1990's Useless Wooden Toys video. As the 90's picked up steam, the team picked up more riders, as well. 1281 from 1991 brought with it Fred Olande, Rene Matthysson, Jeremie Daclin, and Mike Vallely. By 1993's Whatever, they had Rob Carlyon and Jordan Richter, and with Children of the Sun in 1995 we were seeing Dave Duren, Matt Milligan, and Ben Pappas. 1996 was pretty much the end of it, but they got J.B. Gillet and even Bucky Lasek on board.

Underworld Element (before it became Element) was a way for Andy to creatively branch off from New Deal as it was beginning to become watered down for public consumption. The themes of Underworld centered around the raw urban culture of hip-hop, skateboarding, and graffiti. Underworld was a collabaration between Howell and Johnny Shillereff, who would later take control of the company and continue on as Element, as it is known today. While Andy was on board, though, his artisitc touches can be seen in the graphic design and in the first couple videos, Skypager, and Fine Artists, Vol. 1. U.E. had great riders, too, like Harold Hunter, Julien Stranger, Jeff Pang, Pepe Martinez, Rick Ibaseta, Billy Pepper, Andy Stone, Danny Minnick, Erik Pupecki, and Stevie Williams.

Sophisto, or originally known as Zero Sophisto, was Andy Howell's initial clothing brand. More talented riders were coming under the wing of Andy's ever-expanding line of brands, and this time was no exception, with the likes of Josh Kalis, Jamie Thomas, Vinne Ponte, Shiloh Greathouse, and Karma Tscocheff repping. They had a few magazine ads and some commercials in 411. He would later go on to expand into the clothing markets with R.E.N. (Racial Equality Now), Girly Things, and MTN snowboard gear. It was also in this time period that he founded Freedom Video, that did full editing and motion graphics development for video projects. It was cutting edge, as the University of Southern California School of Cinema-Television would use it for classroom study.

The end of the 90's was where Andy Howell took off with much success in the ad agency world. In 1999 he co-found and creatively directed Imagewerks, which launched ad campaigns and promotions for Time-Warner's Transworld Media Group, McDonalds, Coca-Cola, K2 Snowboards, and the Tony Hawk Pro Skater series of video games. In 2004 he started EggProjects, which worked in brand creation, distribution, and consulting. Its brands were Better Chemistry, Un1versal Mind, Militree, and others. He released a hardcover book in 2005 called Art, Skateboarding, & Life, which was the initial inspiration behind this post. And then in 2007 he launched Artsprojekt, which is his current outlet as artist management, representation, and commerce company. He still draws, paints, and shows his art in galleries, as well.