Looking for a new SUP Board? Since winter seems to have already packed it in early here in BC,  we’re already shopping around for new boards and gear for the spring. If you’ve been cruising the web looking for your next Stand Up Paddle board, you’ve seen a ton of shapes, sizes and colours.  If you are graphically inclined and get excited about certain styles of art, you’ll notice a common trend in SUP – Straight, simple, clean lines. The traditional Longboard Surf style.  That might just be your fancy…. or maybe you want a board with more?  Read on….

At the recent Surf Expo in Florida, it was the upstart SUP companies like Hypr Nalu and Rogue who dared to be different and although traditional lines and simplicity of the longboard will always be in style, new graphics and colours are on their way.  If you are one of those keeners who likes long distance paddling, a graphic on the front of the board just might help take your mind off fatigue and allow your grey matter to wander.  Or maybe a graphic to fire you up for a Class IV whitewater run?

Perhaps the biggest challenge for board designers and graphic artists is the fact that most of the top, or graphical canvas, is covered in a black, white or camo deck pad.  You’ve likely come into the sport during the camo phase and we will be cheering loudly when the industry finally puts them in a dusty corner.

Like Hawaiian-inspired dragons?  Hypr Nalu of Hawaii has a very unique style of graphics on vivid colours like shocking orange, go-getter green and boldstreet blue.  How about some boards that appeal to women? Check out Rogue for their Tropical and Mystical designs and the Nautical Star board for an edgier look.  Or how about an 80′s industrial motif?  Then check out Tomahawk’s Flea model among others.

Custom board graphics are taking off and Tomahawk SUP is one of the company’s who has embraced the movement.  There are countless shapers and painters out there so search away.

Want something to fashionably spank the water with?  Kialoa Paddles is one of the first paddle manufacturers to start wrapping the full blade on some of their models.  Look for some cool stuff from them in early spring. (Above)

Well, then there’s Drew Brophy who competes in his own league of graphical wizardry – we could spend hours just looking through his site.  He paints SUP boards, surfboards and lends his style to a number of cool products like Indo Board and more.

Drew Brophy and his quiver