High Point Skatepark
I collaborated with a local skatepark committee and professional skater Jake Johnson to design a poster in efforts to raise money for the construction of a local skatepark in State College, Pennsylvania.
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For context, State College has been without a public skatepark for far too long. And in the past, several attempts to gain approval from the community of a park plan have fallen short. With a plan finally put in place and approved by the borough, it was finally time to make this dream a reality. The only thing left to do was to raise money through local contributions and grants. In effort to raise local contributions, I designed a fundraising poster.
The park was set to be built in High Point park and to be named High Point Skatepark. I wanted to emphasize the desperation and the fact that this skatepark is long over-due through some wordplay and accompanied visuals.
The poster would read as follows:
"It's High Time for a Skatepark"
Direction
Process
With this concept put in place, I sketched out ideas and notes for the poster illustration focused around the need for a skatepark, the local skate community, Pennsylvania symbolism, and general skate culture.
Refinements
After narrowing direction, I pursued three illustrations. The first emphasized the word ‘time’ by turning a watch into a skate bowl in a surrealist, dream-like style. The second emphasized desperation by depicting a skater who can’t skate anywhere, so they opt to play with a fingerboard instead. This poster is grabs attention through absurdity and curiosity. The third option is elegant and emphasizes how close the skate community is to victory through a rendition of the creation of Adam. The individual is so close to touching the skateboard, they just need a little push.
Final
Option two was selected because of how it reflected the skate community’s need for a skatepark, and it’s visual movement around the piece. The eye follows the halfpipe and the subject’s eyes to the fingerboard pointing down to the added information and QR, then back up to the point of the elbow highlighting the message going back and forth. The text used was meant to be blunt and strong. The message was designed to be easy to read and concise for quick action. The illustration was designed to evoke emotion, empathy, and inspire community and action.
Over time, the skatepark raised more than 1 million dollars in grants and contributions and broke ground in the spring of 2025.