Finding the balance with designer and skateboarder Monica Shaw

Nice work on the guest artist board with Meow! What was the inspiration behind the design?
Thank you, coming from a fellow graphic designer that means a lot. The inspiration is about trying to keep life in balance… it’s called “Precarious”. Because we all feel this, right? I think a lot of my ideas directly speak to the human condition and are simplified representations of life. Whether it be passing feelings, thoughts, boredom, love or loss. I like to make things people see themselves in and can relate to.

2018 was a particularly weird year for me and life became a very delicate balancing act. I have been battling with a health issue called tinnitus—in my case, consistent ringing in one ear. It was not as simple as treating it and I’m cured, so I learnt the hard lesson of how to look after myself. Firstly, how to cope, then how to sit with something you have no control over, and then finally how to enjoy life again. It’s an ongoing process as healing often is but I can happily say I’m further in front of it now.

Because of this experience, I now continually apply a lot of practices in my life that help me keep a better balance—meditation, acupuncture, skating of course and eating well. It was also this experience that inspired me for the Meow board.

Graphic design is your bread and butter, right? What kind of projects do you usually work on?
At the moment I work as a graphic designer in politics—the good leftie kind. I work for the Australian Union movement here in Melbourne, working on projects that campaign for things like workers’ rights, eliminating the gender pay gap and domestic violence leave. Putting it plainly, we are trying to stop working people being screwed over by the Government and the rich jerks (I hope no one from work reads this).

I also take on freelance graphic design work—mainly in the realm of branding, but also a lot of different things from web design, social media content to packaging. I’m a jack of all trades graphic designer… Hire me monicashawdesign.com or follow me on Instagram (no harm in a shameless plug).

Do you get to do much design in the skate world, or work on other creative endeavors?
I’d say I’m thinking about creative ideas 85% of the time, there’s just a part of my brain that gets really excited by a good concept and making that come to life. This can manifest into range of outcomes from illustrations to 35mm photographs and animations.

I was talking to my girlfriend Sophie the other day about the feeling I get when I am working on a new idea—I used to get a similar feeling on my way to the skate park when I was younger. Butterflies in my stomach, sometimes I get sweaty palms, that’s how I know an idea is good. It’s a build up of nervous energy and I have to jump on it right away. After the nervous energy I become pure focus and then there it is—it’s a good feeling and very cathartic.

The Meow board was a fun one. It’s not often I get to work without a brief. It’s the “do whatever the hell I want” kind of work that is the most creatively satisfying and I’m definitely trying to do more of this in the future.

You were on the 2016 Girls Skate India trip. How was that experience?
India is one crazy ass place and doing a full-blown skate trip there was a really great experience that I won’t ever forget.

It was pretty hilarious actually. I felt old—I’m 34 for anyone wondering. Been skating for 22 years (wow, when I put it like, I do seem really old). These girls on the trip ripped—I’ll name two Frenchies… Lisa Jacob & Chloe Bernard. Lisa builds skateparks and travels most of the year out and they’re just down for the grimy skate life—sleeping on floors, shredding everything in sight. I was just adjusting to the fact we had to skate every day. You’d finish one day and be like, I gotta do that all over again and I’m sore.

Plus, I got concussed on the first day on that trip at Kovalam, so that was an interesting start, first session too. Went to an Indian hospital, also an interesting experience.

Speaking of skate trips, you were also on the 2003 Australian skate tour which turned into the AKA Girl Skater video. Do you have any good stories from that trip?
2003, what a time for women in skateboarding… just kidding it was bogus. There was a very real urge to make us “marketable” and often when I did photo shoots or promotions etc they would try to “girlify” us. It’s very refreshing now seeing women being portrayed just as they are and ripping.

But nonetheless Gallaz was one of the only companies at the time willing to put down the dollars for us to travel around and I am truly grateful for the experience. I was 19 and I suppose in the right place, right time when that all went down.

Here’s 3 things random things that I recall from that trip: 1. Someone pee’d in an old water bottle in the back of the van (I won’t name names); 2. There was some thin ass eyebrows (plucking was a sign of the times); 3. We used to spray paint our shoes because we never liked the colourways the shoes came in.

Other than that, I obviously made lifelong buds in Amy Caron, Vanessa Torres, Lauren Mollica and Jaime Reyes. We continued to travel together sporadically for the next 5 years to competitions and trips around the world after that film. Maybe we should do a comeback special where we all re-enact scenes from the film (just kidding that would be weird and unwatchable).

What does the “skate life” look like for you now?
Usually a weekend skate date with my awesome friends here in Melbourne—Hilary Pearce or Tim Hillier. I would still like to do some more skate trips, definitely want to hit up that Witch Hunt and WOF in the coming years to catch up with everyone… that looked insane and fun!

Do you have any exciting design projects or skate trips on the horizon?
I have a few projects in the pipeline at the moment… a few skate related merch ideas, a children’s book and a solo exhibition. Watch this space.

Shop Monica’s guest artist board for Meow Skateboards here. 

Interview: Sarah Huston
Photos: Courtesy of Monica Shaw