Grace Warner, Maria Thomsen, and Ylfa Rúnarsdóttir have a palpable energy to them. Before we hopped on our call to talk about the new alien inspired Good Company board the three of them designed, Ylfa stressed she would only have a few minutes to talk. Though, the moment we all hopped on Zoom, it was clear we’d be talking for longer. Everyone was chatting, catching up, laughing. It was fun to see, mainly because I understood, before even asking a question, why this board existed in its current form. The bright pink and green colors of the base are loud, energetic, unapologetically themselves. It was all very similar to the vibes being thrown around on our call—loud laughs and little concern for the time. Sometimes collaborations feel forced, as if the people involved aren't fully invested. That usually comes down to a lack of real connection, however, that’s not the case with the Good Company. These women clearly have a connection, and it shows.
"People always notice it, and it's so fun. It could have gone both ways, but it's really fun when people are like, "Whoa, what is that board?" And you're like, "We made it."" - Maria Thomsen
Norm: Could I get you all to do a quick introduction, just who you are and what your relationship is to Burton?
Grace: What's up, it's Grace Warner, and I am a street snowboarder for Burton Snowboards.
Maria: My name is Maria Thomsen, and I'm a snowboarder for Burton.
Ylfa: I'm Ylfa. I'm from Iceland, and I ride for Burton Snowboards.
How did you all end up designing a snowboard together? How did that project come about?
Ylfa: I think it's because we like similar types of snowboarding, and so we got linked together through Burton—that's how we know each other—and that's how we ended up designing a board together.
Maria: We got headhunted. We're a couple of pretty savvy artists and they wanted us together [laughs].
Grace: I feel like, also, the three of us are really in tune with the product, and we care a lot, so we just ended up in a group chat one day talking about what graphics would look dope on a snowboard.
Ylfa: We have these rider roundtables once a year, where you get to give feedback on products and everything that you like and don't like. And I think the three of us are pretty vocal. We say what we like, and we say what we don't like. And I think people want that kind of feedback, and they want us to be very involved. And as soon as we showed interest, they just picked it up, and all of a sudden we were in this group chat.
What was the vibe you were going for in that initial group chat?
Maria: I think first we got a couple of mood boards, and we all had ideas about colors and other things we liked. I think we were all into having a pretty colorful board, and then we just slowly nailed it down to something we all agreed on. I remember we had some monsters, and we were all kind of into green and pink, and then-
Ylfa: And graffiti. I think we were all into graffiti and the vibe in snowboarding that when we started snowboarding, this is what was cool, and we wanted to bring that back in a way. I think all our mood boards were kind of that.
Maria: Fun, vibrant, loud.
Ylfa: Yeah, all our mood boards were definitely super loud in the first take. And then we kind of just built from there.
Where'd the alien come from?
Grace: Wait, can I talk about this one? Because I was thinking about this, and I don't even know if you guys understand what the alien meant to me. Were you all at the Rider Summit in Innsbruck? Remember when—okay, we had this assignment to make all the specs of a snowboard and present it. And I've always just thought Burton boards are perfect, and they don't need to change, so the specs aspect, I was kind of not doing so hot on, but the graphics were where I honed in. And I remember specifically we chose this photo that my 11-year-old cousin drew on her iPad. And it was an alien, and so when the alien graphic got brought up for this board, I was like, "Dude, this is so sick." Shout out to my cousin, my little cousin Lucy. She gave the inspo for the alien. So I was so hyped that we ended on that graphic, for sure.
Ylfa: I remember that. I also think what first brought it up was Maria put a photo of a monster, like a graffiti monster, and we were all like, "Yep, we're all into the alien kind of thing." And I've always been big on aliens, since my first snowboard had an alien on the top sheet. And I didn't really connect the dots until I did, but I think that's why I've always been into aliens. I've even done the Alien Invasion jam, because I just love that kind of stuff. And I think that Maria brought up a graffiti monster with a bunch of eyes.
Maria: I think that we were all drawn towards that.
Ylfa: I think, honestly, on all of our mood boards, there was a creature or an alien of some sorts.
Grace: Yeah, like a cartoon creature. We knew we wanted something like that. And Ylfa really took charge with the pink and green. She was like, "These two colors have to go together, and they have to be on the board." So that was like, no questions asked, it's gonna be pink and green.
Ylfa: I had not seen a pink and green board in years until, then the Jed board came out after we already decided on these colors. But literally, I hadn't seen a pink and green board in years and years and years, and I think that's why I was so married to the combo. But then, Ride dropped one just at the same time.
The pink and green is sick though. I feel like there are trends that ebb and flow, of being super low-key and then things get super loud. And this is loud, but it works for what it is.
Grace: I just remember seeing the base graphic for the first time and being like, "Dude, a fish-eye night clip, like a line with this board is gonna look so sick."
Ylfa: As soon as we decided on the pink and green, we were all like, "We need this on the base for photos in the streets. It's just gonna be so dope."
"...the three of us are pretty vocal. We say what we like, and we say what we don't like. And I think people want that kind of feedback..." - Ylfa Runarsdottir
How do you feel now that it's done? Looking at the finished product, are you hyped?
Maria: So hyped.
Ylfa: Fucking love it.
Maria: And I think it's fun to make something and then see it come to life. I don't know, people are just drawn to it. I feel like I've gotten so many compliments on this board. People always notice it, and it's so fun. It could have gone both ways, but it's really fun when people are like, "Whoa, what is that board?" And you're like, "We made it."
I feel like every time I do one of these interviews, because I’ve done a few now, we end up always talking about how it feels to see people riding their board, a board that they had a hand in creating, and especially when it's your friends. Is that a trip for you guys?
Grace: Yeah. I mean, I feel like Burton does such a good job, especially lately, at taking the riders' advice on product and letting us be involved, and I think that gives us a different connection to the product and makes it so much easier to sell because we have a relationship with the product, and we helped build it. So we feel it's so much deeper than just getting a snowboard and riding it. You have a whole story and connection to the graphic. It just means a lot to see a product that you had a say in come to life. It's really sick.
The 26/27 Burton Good Company is a powerhouse in the park. It’s soft enough to lean into a press, but sturdy enough to handle everything else you need. And with a true twin shape and camber bend, this board is as playful as it is exciting.
