Intuitive Functionality

Thomas Meyerhoffer, founder of Meyerhoffer.

Surfers are very conservative,” says Swedish industrial designer Thomas Meyerhoffer, who took up the sport when he moved to California in the early 1990s. That might seem to contradict the daring, forever-young image of surfing, but Meyerhoffer has a point. While peripheral styling may have evolved, board designs themselves have hardly changed in years. And while he didn’t deliberately set out to upend the industry, Meyerhoffer has introduced a new line of surfboards that embody both performance and poetry. “Honestly, at the start I loved every board that I used and I didn’t want to change a thing. But then one day when I was in the water, these thoughts started to appear: ‘I should do this, I should do that.’ And I’m a designer, so I could make it happen,” he says of starting his own surf design shop. Having learned the skill of shaping boards, Meyerhoffer uses CAD programs to finesse his designs. “Making surfboards is an arts-oriented craft, but I’m using very new tools to create these things,” he says. “It’s mixing it up in a different way.” Marketing his boards has been easier than he expected, says Meyerhoffer, who never fails to get inquiries while he’s paddling out. “It’s been really amazing to see how the the surf community, which is very performance-oriented, has responded to the new designs,” says Meyerhoffer, whose other products can be seen at meyerhoffer.com.

Legozoo. Meyerhoffer's five-year-old son helps him name his surfboard designs.

Taken from the January 2008 issue of our sister publication, California Home + Design. For more than a decade, CH+D has informed, celebrated and inspired the nation's most influential home and design market. Subscribe now.
 

Surfers are very conservative,” says Swedish industrial designer Thomas Meyerhoffer, who took up the sport when he moved to California in the early 1990s. That might seem to contradict the daring, forever-young image of surfing, but Meyerhoffer has a point. While peripheral styling may have evolved, board designs themselves have hardly changed in years. And while he didn’t deliberately set out to upend the industry, Meyerhoffer has introduced a new line of surfboards that embody both performance and poetry. “Honestly, at the start I loved every board that I used and I didn’t want to change a thing. But then one day when I was in the water, these thoughts started to appear: ‘I should do this, I should do that.’ And I’m a designer, so I could make it happen,” he says of starting his own surf design shop. Having learned the skill of shaping boards, Meyerhoffer uses CAD programs to finesse his designs. “Making surfboards is an arts-oriented craft, but I’m using very new tools to create these things,” he says. “It’s mixing it up in a different way.” Marketing his boards has been easier than he expected, says Meyerhoffer, who never fails to get inquiries while he’s paddling out. “It’s been really amazing to see how the the surf community, which is very performance-oriented, has responded to the new designs,” says Meyerhoffer, whose other products can be seen at meyerhoffer.com.

Legozoo. Meyerhoffer's five-year-old son helps him name his surfboard designs.

Taken from the January 2008 issue of our sister publication, California Home + Design. For more than a decade, CH+D has informed, celebrated and inspired the nation's most influential home and design market. Subscribe now.
 

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