“Learn about the history of Roarockit’s name and logos from the perspective of Norah and Ted (co-founders of Roarockit) in this interview.”
Ted's sculpture, the original inspiration for Roarockit's name.
Where did the name Roarockit come from?
Norah: “Roarockit is a combination of different things that mean a lot to us. It started back when Ted had a company called Rocket Brand Sails where he used to do repair work on windsurfing sails.”
Ted: “Even before that, I made a sculpture, and it was called Rocket Brand Skipping Rope, so the name came from that sculpture that I built a long time ago. So when we were going to start this company, we thought we'll just use that name, Rocket Brand Skateboard.
We started looking on the World Wide Web (as it was called back then) and found that there were lots of companies, including skateboard companies, that were calling themselves rocket this or rocket that. So, we thought we better think of something more original. One day, we were just sitting on the beach somewhere (we love to sit on the beach), and I said, ‘Well, I like the word Roar! Maybe we can do something with that’”.
Ted and Norah on the beach in Maui, HI.
Norah: “‘Well, what about Roarocket? Then we could still use Rocket. Wait a second, we're selling a kit, let's change the ending to "KIT"!' And that is how the name came about. It's a little bit hard to pronounce, until you sort of get the flow of it, but we thought it was kind of a different name. We were talking to a patent lawyer and she told us we’d better do a full check to see if anybody else was using the name Roarockit before us. Sure enough, nobody else has come forward in 21 or so years to say that they own that name, so I think it's ours! So that's how we came to be Roarockit Skateboard Company.
The original Roarockit logo.
What about the logo?
Norah: “The logo has gone through quite a few iterations. I come from a graphic design background, and we tapped into some really creative people. Our first main logo was done by Eric (Lo-Rez). He also did our first two websites. Eric designed a big globe, with a rocket swirling around it and some really nice iconic lettering. We used that logo for many, many years before deciding to do an update.
Our third website was done by a wonderful designer by the name of Laura Wills (Mssngr). She went through all kinds of design exercises with us. We settled on a typeface that we thought really resonated well with us, with flowing lines perhaps a little bit of rocket technology, a little bit of skating, a little bit of roadway paths, with double lines curving around. The font itself we thought was quite striking, it and the letters work nicely with the name Roarockit. Laura custom designed that for us, and it's still our current logo.”
Current Roarockit logo.
Roarockit Shaka logo design.
Norah: “Another logo that we use is a shaka logo. I think I mentioned sitting on a beach, and also sails. This goes back to our main passion in life: windsurfing. That's actually how the two of us met, on a windsurf beach. Part of windsurfing is finding great wind. Before we met, Ted and I had both independently gone to the island of Maui and thought it's the best windsurfing in the world. And, of course, the shaka is what everybody in Hawaii uses to either welcome or say goodbye. A friend, board builder/designer (Mike) Boz, offered to design us a logo, but something a little bit different. He did the shaka hand and then circled it with ‘Handmade with Roarockit Technology’, and we've been using that since the day he designed it. There's a Canadian version of it and other versions for all of our international retailers. It means a lot to us, it has that little bit of Hawaiian Aloha spirit. We keep going back to Maui to go windsurfing every year and never get tired of it.”
International Shaka designs for each Roarockit retailer location.
Roarockit location in Toronto, Canada.
Queen,
Roarockit Skateboard Company