Ocean Beach Icon
The Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy has a beautiful collection of icons for some of it's more popular parks, which include Alcatraz, Muir Woods, and the Mount Tamalpais. This Ocean Beach icon is the latest and long over due addition to the collection. This was a collaboration between the Director of Retail who art directed, myself who did the initial designing and concepting in the signature Michael Schwab style, and Michael Schwab himself who finished it off.
Since Ocean Beach is the local surfing hot-spot, the initial sketches included a surfer as the focal point to break up the scenery. With the surfer however, the spirit of the beach itself was being diluted and started to look a little cliche and too reminiscent of already popular graphics like the "Endless Summer" movie poster. When the surfer was removed something serene appeared, it was just you and the waves. it became easy to place yourself at the waters edge with the waves lapping at your feet, as you gaze at the calming vastness and listen to the rhythm of the crashing waves.
