badfish
Apparel Graphics
A man wearing a Badfish t-shirt with an old school train engine graphic

Illustrations for a surf shop… in southwest Colorado?

With a growing river surfing, SUP and whitewater scene in the area, Badfish made the move into a physical retail location just across from the iconic river wave in Salida. To celebrate their grand opening, we created 3 custom illustrations to pay homage to the history of Salida and the west.
Services Provided
Illustration

S Mountain Graphic

The F Street Bridge is a historical marker in Salida, and lies just upstream of the shop and surf wave. S Mountain, another iconic landmark is visible from much of town, including the new shop! By combining these two landmarks we were able to pay tribute to the town, history, and the river all while having fun with some new typography for the brand.
Graphics for a Badfish t-shirt showing the brand name and a bridge with a mountain in the background
Some different iterations of the badfish tshirt design showing the brand name with a bridge and mountain in the background
A woman wearing a badfish tshirt with the brand name, bridge, and mountain graphics

Train Graphic.

Trains were a massive part of the development of the west and Salida in particular has a rich history here. We loved the idea of a train conductor with a river board attached to his cabin, traveling from one river wave to the next.
An illustration of an old school old school locomotive engine with the  brand name 'badfish' spelled out in the engine exhaust
An illustration of an old school old school locomotive engine with the  brand name 'badfish' spelled out in the engine exhaust
An illustration of an old school old school locomotive engine with the  brand name 'badfish' spelled out in the engine exhaust
A close up of ab  illustration of an old school old school locomotive engine
A close up of ab  illustration of an old school old school locomotive engine
A close up of ab  illustration of an old school old school locomotive engine
A close up of ab  illustration of an old school old school locomotive engine
A man wearing a white tshirt with the old school locomotive graphic on the back of the shirt
A man wearing a white tshirt with a small surfboard graphic shown on the front

Stamped Bricks

Bricks were an important historical building material in locations like Salida, and have a rich design history as well - Manufacturers would stamp bricks with their brand names and other information. We researched popular vintage brick stamping designs and used that as inspiration to guide this illustration.
An digital logo showing vintage stamped bricks with the Badfish brandname on the top brick, and "made in Salida, Colorado" in the bottom brick
An digital logo showing vintage stamped bricks with the Badfish brandname on the top brick, and "made in Salida, Colorado" in the bottom brick
A woman wearing a white tshirt showing the Badfish logo on the front
A woman wearing a Badfish tshirt with an digital logo showing vintage stamped bricks with the Badfish brandname on the top brick, and "made in Salida, Colorado" in the bottom brick on the back of the tshirt
“Charles is both super professional and very creative and in my experience those two don’t always go hand in hand! We can give Charles some general ideas and he is very skilled at efficiently getting to a design we love. We worked on 3 t-shirt designs that all had elements of hand drawn, original art work and these have become best sellers for us in our shop. I can highly recommend working with Charles."
A headshot of Mike Harvey
MIKE HARVEY
CO FOUNDER, BADFISH SUP

Results

Badfish had a successful retail opening and have been able to stock their shop with new, best selling apparel that speaks to their ties to Salida.
A photo of the badfish shop in Salida, CO