Indoek began as a creative surf culture blog, but since 2012, it has served as a home for the surf-y passion projects of our design studio.
This year marks the 10-year anniversary of our design studio, ITAL/C, “sister brand” to Indoek.
By staying small and not having any clearly defined goals over the years, we’ve been able to dabble in various mediums and create a brand that is constantly changing to be whatever we want it to be at any given moment. While that may be the opposite of what a “good business” is supposed to do in order to turn a profit, that flexible ethos has allowed us to have a lot of fun with Indoek and make heaps of rad stuff at our own pace. Here are a few standout projects we’ve created over the last 10 years.
SURF SHACKS®
Our most popular project by far
We started Surf Shacks® in 2013 as a web series on Indoek.com that documented creative surfers and their homes all around the world. It has since evolved into a popular coffee-table book series and even home goods and other product collaborations. In 2017, we worked with German publisher Gestalten to release the first Surf Shacks book with 42 stories from the online series. And in 2020, Surf Shacks Vol.2 was released featuring 40 more stories. Both books are distributed internationally and can be found anywhere from Barnes & Noble to local surf shops and home goods shops, to the rooms of boutique hotels. Over 50,000 copies of both books have been sold to date.
WAVEWAM TEEPEE
We partnered with our friend Stefan Wigand to launch a limited run of portable beach teepees called “WaveWam.”
MIXTAPE MONDAYS
Music is everything to Indoek
It is a constant source of inspiration in our daily routine and creative process. Over the span of 150 weeks, we curated a volume of new music every Monday which we aptly called, “Mixtape Mondays.”
ON SURFING
A printed collection of thoughtful interviews with surf luminaries.
The series spans pros and industry stalwarts to enigmatic locals and folk heroes. From Gerry Lopez, Kassia Meador and Mikey February to Stephanie Gilmore, Taro Tamai and Thomas Campbell, the series shows just how coded, nuanced and eclectic surfing has become. The concept is simple: All subjects were asked the same questions about their lifelong relationships to surfing and the memories they conjure up, and their stories appear alongside hand-drawn portraits.
27 FRAMES
We sent 27 single-use film cameras out to some of our favorite photographers, they shot stuff with them, then mailed them back to us. We developed the film and shared the results onIndoek.com. In this instant, digital age, we wanted to pay homage to a snapshot photo process we grew up with ourselves—waiting for the film to develop and being surprised by the results. As the online series caught on, we realized we needed to do something bigger with the “27Frames” concept. So we curated our favorite images from the series (88 in total) and threw an art show and silent auction in downtown LA with 100% of the sales going to Surfrider Foundation.
THE ANATOMY OF OWEN
Owen Wright is a Herculean figure in a sea of short, scrawny professional surfers. His tall, muscular build breaks the mold of the stereotypical surf stature. In this anatomical study of his physique, we highlighted his enormous presence compared to his pro surfing peers and other professional athletes through motion graphics. The comparisons were quite surprising. How do you compare to this surf titan?
THE VENICE ISSUE
The Indoek Venice issue was the first in a series of large-format, newsprint city guides that highlight our favorite surf towns.
The zine is 84 pages of unique editorial content that features interviews with Dogtown legend Skip Engblom by Trace Marshall, Venice-born pro surfer Rick Massie by WSL commentator and surf legend Strider Wasilewski, features on Mollusk Surf Shop and Surfing Cowboys, and is also packed with beautiful photo essays from the likes of Kenny Hurtado, David Black, Peter Karnig and Kassia Meador, and illustrations by Ty Williams.
THE ST. AUGUSTINE ISSUE
The St. Augustine issue was the second in an ongoing series of large format, printed city guides. It is 92 pages of unique editorial content featuring the creative culture of the nation’s oldest city that we concepted and produced. The issue is a 5-color offset printed on five different high-end paper stocks from Mohawk Paper and includes a vinyl sticker sheet tip-in.
INDOEK WAX KIT
There is perhaps no resource more precious in surfing than wax.
We always wanted a beautiful and functional case to hold our sticky bars, so we collaborated with our friend Todd St. John to create our own limited edition wax kit. The unique design was reminiscent of surfboard shaping planes and had a focus on sustainability and minimal waste, with the tropical hardwood material sourced from fallen Nicaraguan trees.
180 DAYS ON TOUR
180 Days on Tour is a glimpse behind the scenes of being on the 2014 WSL World Tour via two members of the production crew, Brent Miller and Shannon Waller (and their personal phones). When they’re not organizing, filming and broadcasting all 12 live events that we can all enjoy from our laptops, they are getting paid to surf and travel with the best surfers in the world at the some of the best waves on this planet for half the year.
