Floating Ramp. When sport and design get together.

American designer, art director and builder Jerry Blohm built a floating ramp on Lake Tahoe for an advertising shoot in California featuring pro-skater Bob Burnquist.



An unusual request for a Visual Marketing project – the “Visit California” tourism campaign – put Jerry Blohm, award-winning art director, designer and builder who hails from Florida in the hot-seat when he was asked to build a floating ramp.



Apart from the right degrees of slope requested by pro-skater Bob Burnquist, Jerry was given a free hand in the ramp design, materials and even the size.





Used to working “outside the box” and to meeting an array of demands and time constraints, the art director put together a professional crew, including skater and designer Jeff King, and decided to build a floating ramp onsite, near Lake Tahoe, where the ad agency was filming.





By doing this, he managed to drastically reduce costs and also keep down the ramp’s environmental impact. Jerry was very particular about the design and the curves. He wanted it to feel organic, and he also took great pride in developing the paint scheme. Before the ramp was lowered into the water, it was inspected by the water management authority to make sure it was compatible with the lake’s ecosystem.





After passing these preliminary tests, the ramp kept its promise to stay afloat and became a delightfully stunning skateboard facility in the middle of the natural beauty. Nature that is so precarious, as demonstrated during the shoot by the smoke from nearby bushfires. Nature that needs to be valued and protected with the collaboration of creative minds.

Project: Jerry Blohm, http://www.jerryblohm.com
Location: Lake Tahoe, California, USA
Year: 2013
Photography: Courtesy of Jerry Blohm
Video: http://www.youtube-nocookie.com/watch?v=FmHDfTBXEE0