The Girabbit story
When I saw the design contest by Channel Island for the new logo of Jordy Smith's signature model surfboard I knew I had to try it. I have to win this, I said to myself. For me it was not so much about winning the prize ($1500 and CI surfboard with custom design, even though I really needed a new surfboard and also the money) but the idea that one of the greatest surfers in the world would ride a board with my design on it was something that was burning me up.
A month and a half. Ahh... that's plenty of time. But still, days were passing by and I didn't have a single idea what to put on a surfboard... Until the last day of the contest when I finally opened my sketchbook and started doodling some weird board designs all over my sketchbook. Everything looked like a meaningless piece of shit. I was frustrated because I couldn't get any cool ideas out of me, so I just said to myself: Fuck it, I quit... I felt relieved. But still, I continued to doodle. This time, without the pressure I had before. I just let my hand make some spontaneous moves around the paper. And in the next few seconds some kind of crazy animal was born – the Girabbit: half giraffe, half rabbit. In that moment my friend passed by and looked at my crazy creature. He immediately said: Let's put this on a surfboard, Jordy would love it. And I was like: Are you insane? I just drew this for fun, it's just a stupid sketch. I really didn't want anybody to see it, especially not Jordy Smith :D But then I thought to myself: There is nothing to lose, at least I won't be angry with myself that I didn't even try. So we finished the design on the computer together and submitted it in the dying seconds of the contest's open window.
There were so many other people participating - around 500 surfboard designs, some of them really incredible, with great online voting rates and I wasn't even close to them - that I had no expectations. In any case, I felt satisfied that I gave Girabbit a chance.
I didn't want to get my hopes up of winning anything and I tried not to think about it. I wasn't even checking the results anymore, my friend did it almost every day and I was just secretly imagining the moment when he was gonna excitedly start screaming in front of the computer.
And, believe it or not, that day really came. I was sitting on the toilet when I suddenly started to hear the screaming of my friend: Ninaaaaa. Ninaaaa, come hereeeee! Aaaaa Ninaaaaa.... In the same second that I heard his voice I knew it. We had won. Girabbit WON!
It was one of the happiest days of my life that I'll remember forever. And another indescribable one: the day when I received the board with my Girabbit all over it. All the endless waves we rode together... It's amazing each time I go to surf shops and see the Girabbit logo on so many new boards.
The point of the story is that the best things happen when you let go. When you feel good & you're not under pressure, when you don't expect anything and when you just don't give a fuck :) And that's what Let's Doodle is all about. To let the resistance go. To let the energy flow.
Anyway, our story ended pretty sadly. My Girabbit board got stolen last year here in Portugal and I'm still crying about it. Just kidding. Not anymore. I'm sure there will be a part 2 of this blog and I will write about our awesome reunion. I know it's something greater behind this story and that everything happens for a reason.
Maybe you can also help us by sharing this story with your friends, you never know who my Girabbit is hanging with :) I don't think he's hard to find, he's still the one and the only out there.
Have fun, you only live NOW!
A month and a half. Ahh... that's plenty of time. But still, days were passing by and I didn't have a single idea what to put on a surfboard... Until the last day of the contest when I finally opened my sketchbook and started doodling some weird board designs all over my sketchbook. Everything looked like a meaningless piece of shit. I was frustrated because I couldn't get any cool ideas out of me, so I just said to myself: Fuck it, I quit... I felt relieved. But still, I continued to doodle. This time, without the pressure I had before. I just let my hand make some spontaneous moves around the paper. And in the next few seconds some kind of crazy animal was born – the Girabbit: half giraffe, half rabbit. In that moment my friend passed by and looked at my crazy creature. He immediately said: Let's put this on a surfboard, Jordy would love it. And I was like: Are you insane? I just drew this for fun, it's just a stupid sketch. I really didn't want anybody to see it, especially not Jordy Smith :D But then I thought to myself: There is nothing to lose, at least I won't be angry with myself that I didn't even try. So we finished the design on the computer together and submitted it in the dying seconds of the contest's open window.
There were so many other people participating - around 500 surfboard designs, some of them really incredible, with great online voting rates and I wasn't even close to them - that I had no expectations. In any case, I felt satisfied that I gave Girabbit a chance.
I didn't want to get my hopes up of winning anything and I tried not to think about it. I wasn't even checking the results anymore, my friend did it almost every day and I was just secretly imagining the moment when he was gonna excitedly start screaming in front of the computer.
And, believe it or not, that day really came. I was sitting on the toilet when I suddenly started to hear the screaming of my friend: Ninaaaaa. Ninaaaa, come hereeeee! Aaaaa Ninaaaaa.... In the same second that I heard his voice I knew it. We had won. Girabbit WON!
It was one of the happiest days of my life that I'll remember forever. And another indescribable one: the day when I received the board with my Girabbit all over it. All the endless waves we rode together... It's amazing each time I go to surf shops and see the Girabbit logo on so many new boards.
The point of the story is that the best things happen when you let go. When you feel good & you're not under pressure, when you don't expect anything and when you just don't give a fuck :) And that's what Let's Doodle is all about. To let the resistance go. To let the energy flow.
Anyway, our story ended pretty sadly. My Girabbit board got stolen last year here in Portugal and I'm still crying about it. Just kidding. Not anymore. I'm sure there will be a part 2 of this blog and I will write about our awesome reunion. I know it's something greater behind this story and that everything happens for a reason.
Maybe you can also help us by sharing this story with your friends, you never know who my Girabbit is hanging with :) I don't think he's hard to find, he's still the one and the only out there.
Have fun, you only live NOW!