I ain’t gonna lie, I prefer the digital era of skate videos. Not having to wait 5-7 business days for the UPS man? Dope. Having my entire video collection with me on my laptop? Doper. Having access to even more videos on Youtube? Even dopier. But there are obviously some downsides. Most videos now are actually 3-5 minute sections, not full length 40-60 minute videos. There are so many amazing videos it’s hard for any one of them to stand out or to build up excitement waiting for their release. And of course the topic of this blog post, the cover art.

* * * *

#10 – Clip 4
Not that it was a work of art itself, but it was a very interesting concept. A plan white box cover that included four actual markers for you to design your own cover. Or maybe they were just incredibly lazy. The world will never know.

#9 – Hyphy 2
Another fun concept. A “Grand Theft Auto” parody and “PlayaStation” haha, good times.

#8 – Sleaze
Nice glossy cardboard material and some really rad artwork that perfectly fit the Vicious brand and team’s vibe.

#7 – Freestyle Rolling
The first ever skate DVD to come in a clear case. I don’t think I had ever seen anyone do that in or out of the blade world. Cool photo of Fish just chilling in a very NYC scene and the |B|unique manifesto written on the wall behind him.

#6 – Them Apples
Some wild doodles to match a pretty wild video. I don’t think any DVD before had an entirely graphic cover, with no photos, and it always stood out.

#5 – Killerboots & Demode
This one is a two’fer. Two of Carl Sturgess’ greatest hits. The Demode cover always had a special place in my art heart, the scratchy scribbled writing, the the little “Carl Sturgess and Jeff Stockwell made this video” in the center of letter D. But the Killerboots cover with its horror movie parody, everyone running away from the Shimanator, it’s just rad lol. I couldn’t pick just one.

#4 – The Truth 2
The long awaited sequel to the first “The Truth.” Its fold out cover had a rad design on the front and some fun photos on the inside. Using the city skyline as negative space to frame the cover art was especially unique. Definitely made up for the especially bad cover of the first Truth DVD (sorry Austin).

#3 – Forever Now
Brandon Negrete’s most infamous project. In a world drowning in baggy sweatpants, one tight pants video would soon change everything. I don’t know if these were screenshots photoshopped to look like drawings or actual drawings depicting scenes in the video, but either way it all came together great.

#2 – Black Market
I think this was the first time a skate DVD came in a cardboard cover. Not that cardboard was more premium than plastic, but it was definitely more fragile, and it made it feel that much more classy. The photos, design, and artwork were obviously rad too.

#1 – Barley Dead
We all saw this coming, right? I mean there was no contest. The textured foldout cardboard cover. The custom artwork by Andrew Tunney. The two-disc set (even though nobody could ever get the second disc to work). The enormous amount of hype that no video could ever live up to. Everything about this video was the highest production value in the history of blading.