This all began in a group chat, planted like some mysterious seed that would blossom into, well, a Blossom. These guys, Rob, Brian, and LJ, don’t know for certain how the chat started, but they can all agree on one thing: it’s the place where the 26/27 Burton Blossom graphic came to life. It was a sounding board for any idea, and over time things got whittled down and refined. What was left was a beautiful steed patched together from chrome, dragons, and roses. It’s a high-energy concept, and we mean that in the best way. It’s not some low-key design but, after you hear this group talk about the process, you’ll know it fits perfectly with who they are.
"I think there was a lot of trial and error when it came to trying to actually figure out how to put chrome on a snowboard." -Flyin' Brian Rice.
Norm: I just need a quick intro from you guys: name, what you do, what your relationship is to Burton.
I'm Rob Roethler, and I snowboard for Burton Snowboards.
I'm LJ Henriquez, and I snowboard for Burton Snowboards.
I'm Brian Rice, AKA Flyin' Brian, and I snowboard for Burton Snowboards.
Before we get into the design of this board, can you guys tell me a little bit about how this project came to be? How did you guys end up all working on a board together?
RR: I want to say—did we not just get thrown into a group chat like, “hey, we want you guys to make a board?"
LH: I think it literally might have been that. I'm pretty sure it was like a blossom inspiration group chat.
RR: I'm sure we got an email saying like, "hey, we would love for you guys to all design a board together," and obviously we were super stoked, and that led to the group chat we're talking about where we just kind of shared ideas and inspiration that we found either on social media or from whatever artist that—especially I know these guys put in a bunch of work with finding cool artwork and artists that helped design that mood board we were working on.
BR: I think over the span of like two weeks, I remember quite vividly, I was in Europe doing some airbag training, and I just remember dropping like three or four photos every couple days into the group chat, and you either mess with it or you don't. And then we all kind of started narrowing down the color schemes after that.
What was the vibe you guys were going for? What were you tossing into the vision board, the group chat? What were you trying to capture with this?
BR: A lot of metal. I remember that being a common-
LH: We were fucking with chrome.
BR: We needed chrome. We needed something shiny.
LH: We wanted it to be as shiny as possible.
RR: Mostly just the base, and then the top sheet we wanted to keep pretty simple but have some subtle accents.
BR: Not too busy on the top sheet.
What did you guys end up with?
LH: It ended up being a chrome dragon on the bottom, all black background. And like Brian said, on the top, very subtle, just like a few roses up the middle with thorns.
BR: Yeah, connected by barbed wire.
You said earlier you all ride for Burton; you've seen what snowboarding can do. It can give and take, lands and slams. So are the roses and thorns on the top sheet symbolic of that? Like, in snowboarding—this sport is beautiful, but it can also poke back a little bit. Was that intentional?
BR: We didn't think about it that way. I mean, I could say one of my inspos for the top sheet, I actually have a tattoo of a rose with barbed wire instead of just normal thorns.
RR: I know I already off the top thinking about it, like, damn, it'd be sick if it was—I had no idea about that tattoo. That's so fire [laughs]. I fuck with that so tough. Because obviously, I mean, roses and thorns. But I just love the way that chrome looks with the red. That's just so funny you have that tattoo. I can't believe I didn't know that.
BR: Yeah, low-key, the whole time I was plotting on tricking Burton into making my pro model [laughs].
Was this all of your guys' first time working on a snowboard?
LH: Yeah, for sure.
BR: It was definitely mine.
RR: Second time for me. I was really excited to get back in the studio.
"...seeing people on the board and knowing that I designed it is such a surreal feeling." -LJ Henriquez
How’s that process on the creative side? Was it challenging or fun or different from what you guys are normally on?
LH: It was definitely a lot of trial and error. We would go into a meeting and talk about what we'd want to do for the graphic, and then we'd come out of the meeting, and then a few days later they'd send us a few ideas or sketches, and then we'd have to go back into another meeting and talk about what we want to do differently. So definitely a lot of just trial and error and going over the steps.
RR: It was perfect. A lot of throwing shit at the wall.
BR: I think there was a lot of trial and error when it came to trying to actually figure out how to put chrome on a snowboard. So, the top sheet, they were like, "yeah, that's fine.” But to get the bottom as bright as they could was difficult to manufacture.
Why was that a challenge?
BR: Because, to my knowledge, nobody's ever put metallics on a base.
Are you guys hyped with how it came out, the look of the chrome?
LH: Yeah, it definitely
BR: Pretty hyped. I wish—there just isn't a material that's actually metal that they can put on a base.
RR: I love what we were able to do with what we were able to accomplish, right? We're really stoked on the product that we have. I also wanted to touch, too, on your question about the process, because this was different for me now, obviously working with others, instead of the first time I had designed a board, which was just me making a spring-board. So this time, working with the crew and especially like—I love these guys' input, and they have such an amazingly fresh perspective, and just have so much style in their riding as well. So it's cool to be able to work alongside that and, you know, butt heads in some ways, but also, like, almost make sure that we all keep each other accountable of making sure it's something sick, you know? Because if we don't all think it's dope—who knows?
It's probably nice. I feel like building a board is such a big responsibility, and if you do that alone, then it's your board; it's so much more pressure. Probably scarier in a way. This one, you have your homies around.
RR: 100%. It's a little bit of a safety net. But most people seem to have absolutely loved the board. I have gotten a lot of compliments, and I'm sure you guys have as well.
BR: I haven't heard anything bad about this board. Everybody's loving it. I mean, everywhere I go, kids are already buying it at their local shops like they're in a hurry. They're like, "this is the sickest board I've seen." It's sick.
"Thanks to Burton for letting us design a board together. It was really sweet getting to work with these guys on such a cool project." -Rob Roethler.
Well, is it a trip seeing people ride a board that you had a hand in creating?
BR: Yeah. This is my first time ever putting something together, and it's actually going into production. So to see it come to fruition and come to life is like, what's going on? This is awesome.
LH: Just being able to have my ideas put on a board that Burton's actually putting out for people to ride is so crazy. And then going around and seeing people on the board and knowing that I designed it is such a surreal feeling.
Do you guys have any parting words or final thoughts on all of this?
RR: Thanks to Burton for letting us design a board together. It was really sweet getting to work with these guys on such a cool project. So thanks to the B, and I mean, thanks to everyone else who's rocking with the board.
BR: Amen. Thanks for putting all the dopest homies on the group chat to make this come to life.
LH: Yeah, facts. Literally just thanks to Burton for putting us all together to be able to do this.
