Austin Wade
I’m a graphic designer, illustrator, and art dirctor speaking to the design-minded and aesthetic appreciators. My work draws influence from old world design styles and places emphasis on a refined, naturalistic feel. I believe that a focus on natural textures and handcrafted looks creates a connection and draw with the end user that is unrivaled in today’s highly digital landscape.
In 2010 I got my start designing merchandise and album covers, and worked my way through the ranks to being the art director of a multi-million dollar international corporation. I’ve worked in nearly every industry you can think of and have touched just about every type of design project there is, from designing Instagram ads to directing and treating full 1000sq/ft trade show booths.
My focus is on intentional branding, packaging, and telling compelling, thoughtful stories through advertising.
Splattergoat Customs
Splattergoat Customs is a brand that lets people put their own artwork on real, professional-grade skateboards. Customers can upload their designs—or create them right on the site—and Splattergoat prints them by hand in the U.S. These aren’t novelty boards or wall hangers (though they look great there too); they’re fully skateable, built for performance and style.
The guiding profile of the entire rebrand was “A 14 year old boy that had too much caffiene”
Services:
Branding
Logo & Identity Design
Packaging
Brand Strategy
Marketing & Social
CampaignsMerchandise Design
Illustration
Web Design
Social Media Strategy
Email Strategy & Implementation
Video
The Need
Splattergoat had built a solid reputation through word of mouth, a functional website, and the novelty of the product itself. They weren’t just filling a gap in the market—they were doing something genuinely fun and different. But there was one catch: their branding hadn’t changed in seven years. The original logo and visual identity were thrown together quickly just to get the product out the door, and somehow that placeholder stuck around way longer than intended.
When Preston Pasco, the founder of Splattergoat, reached out to me, he made it clear that they were ready to grow. The brand had matured, but its visual presence hadn’t. They were gearing up to push harder into marketing and go head-to-head with other big names in the custom skateboard space. The only problem? Their current identity didn’t reflect the quality of the product—or the fun, rebellious spirit of the brand.
What really made it urgent was the realization that first impressions matter. If they were going to compete with the top players, they needed to look like one. Even though their product was already top-tier, the lack of a cohesive, polished brand was starting to hold them back. Preston knew it was time for a full rebrand, and he wanted to go all in—not just a logo refresh, but a complete overhaul from strategy to execution.
Examples of real customer skateboards Splattergoat has produced.
The Process
I kicked things off with a deep dive into the competition. Surprisingly, very few companies were doing this well—most looked dated or underdeveloped. That gap gave us room to position Splattergoat as the premium option in the space.
I also dug through old Thrasher magazines to get a better feel for the roots of skate culture. It was important that the rebrand didn’t just feel slick; it needed to feel real, with a reverence for the history of skateboarding while still looking fresh and current.
As with every project, I put together a mood board of style references to use as a guide for the development. We wanted something fun and reminiscent of core skateboarding, but with extra personality and flexibility. We knew we had to service both wholesale contract clients and consumers, so the base of the branding had to live in a middleground. This meant I was able to develop something simple, and strategize B2B to be a more clean, consistent look, and B2C to be fun, loud, and approachable.
Logo & Brand Guide
We started with a new logo and moved outwards, building touchpoint by touchpoint. One of the biggest decisions we made early on was to give the brand a personality—something customers could connect with beyond just the product.
That led to the birth of Merv, a mischief-making, three-eyed goat mascot who became the face (or faces?) of the brand. Developing Merv’s personality, tone of voice, and visual style helped us set the tone for everything else to follow. From there, we built out a fully realized brand system—visual identity, website, merch, packaging, ad campaigns, and more.
Website
Splattergoat’s original website was built through a Shopify template with only the ability Preston had on his own. While it was functional and saw over half a million dollars in revenue in its 7 year life cycle, it was clear the site had been put together by someone that didn’t particularly specialize in web design. There was no clear design language, and the experience was clunky.
Since Splattergoat had been running through Shopify for so long, and all the businesses integrations and workflow used the Shopify ecosystem, I kept it simple and rebuilt within Shopify again.
I brought the visual language throughout the site, from product images to meta tags. We worked to completely overhaul the UX and flow of the website, and added a lot of new features including a review system, click tracking, heat maps, house graphics, new icons and fonts for the on-site designer, and a “how-to” video in which I took on the role of host / creative director to explain the process of designing a skateboard.
That video can be viewed here.
Merchandise
To keep in line with the humor of the brand, I felt that merchandise was the perfect place to express some of the silliness and interests of Preston and the team. As someone that’s spent a lot of time in the streetwear industry, I wanted to ensure the merchandise would fit in a broader cultural setting, but still maintain a humor and wit. This enabled us to create both fun, approachable designs and over-the-top comedy graphics. Preston is also a big fan of heavy metal, so to keep in line with that history, we found opportunities to flip popular albums into merchandise designs and promotional materials.
Packaging
Splattergoat doesn’t have traditional packaging, by nature of the product. Decks and grp tape ship in standard boxes, so to add some flare that kept in line with the DIY process of the business, we added a simple slogan print to one side of the boxes and a custom packing tape. Packages also come with a care insert and a set of stickers.
Advertising
As part of the rebrand, I set Splattergoat up with a new email CRM system, including a website capture form pop-up that sends users into a month long welcome flow, then segments users based on engagement, purchases, and open rate. Emails include special discounts, tips & tricks, customer highlights, and company news.
In addition, we curated the social media strategy to lean heavy into meme culture. The brand’s tone has always been somewhat lo-fi and absurd, so I wanted to lean in to that. Social media posts are a mixture of recent projects and seemingly low effort memes with over-the-top humor and excessive effects. As the market Splattergoat wants to target tends to skew young millenial and Gen Z, we knew it would be paramount to follow current internet culture to maintain relevance.
The Impact
In the first month after the rebrand launched, Splattergoat saw a 50% increase in revenue and nearly doubled their social media engagement. The new identity didn’t just look better—it made people stop and pay attention. The brand finally looked as good as the product they were selling, and it gave customers more confidence in their purchase. Internally, it also gave the team a clearer direction and a toolkit they could use to grow consistently.
Since the relaunch, Splattergoat has landed high-profile collaborations with none other than skateboarding legend Tony Hawk and the internationally acclaimed illustrator Tim Baron. The new brand presence played a huge role in making those opportunities possible. Splattergoat now looks and feels like a leader in the space—and the best part is, they’re just getting started. I’m proud to have helped give them the tools to own their niche, connect with their customers, and scale with confidence.