Skip to main content

House of Vans

A cool, playful, and engaging anniversary book for a pioneering marketing initiative that built a home for “the creativity that moves us.”

Challenge

The leading footwear and apparel company Vans created a trailblazing marketing initiative called the House of Vans—venues where guests could come to take part in concerts, workshops, skateparks, and more, all for free. To mark the tenth anniversary of House of Vans, the company wanted a special book that would be coveted by a diverse audience comprising brand ambassadors, everyday customers, and internal staff.

Solution

We set out to re-create in book form the experience of walking into the “House” venues themselves. Since encouraging creativity is at the core of the brand’s values, we put together 20 DIY “workshops” sprinkled throughout the book.

The poster for the concert. (ETALLC HARDWIRED...TO SELF-DESTRUCT HOUSE OF "VANS ISTIFNOVE MeBER2012 MUSE LIVE FROM THE HOUSE OF VANS T0AN 18TH N0VEMBER 2016 D00RS 7:30PM|18+SHOW HOUSE OF VANS LONDON,SE1 TNN #HOUSEOFVANS NTAMA.,paper, business, music, no person, festival, vehicle, travel, aircraft, musician, airplane, creativity, technology, exhibition, man, administration, military, recreation, editorial, document, competition)

OFF THE WALL

“Off The Wall” is Vans’s catchphrase, so for the cover we created an intricate debossing pattern and deployed a rarely used gritty varnish finish so that it looked and felt like a real brick wall.

The word wine on a brick wall. (HOUSEOF VAVG SINCe 1986,no person, street, pavement, outdoors, road, old, retro, dirty, asphalt, monochromatic, traffic, urban, stone, business, worn, rough, dark, monochrome, rain, ground)
Digital art selected for the #. (THIS 2,people, art, woman, collage, one, no person, print, man, painting, retro, vintage, portrait, wear, adult, two, picture frame, bill, card, group, illustration)

OBJECTS FROM THE HOUSE OF VANS

Scattered throughout the book, removable inserts help bring the House of Vans experience into the reader’s world. Flip through the pages and you’ll find everything from a wolf mask and a sticker sheet to a cartoon stencil and a make-your-own-shoe origami piece.

Digital art selected for the #. (BUILDING YOUR SKATEBOARD BROUCH ACT LA HOUSE OF NS. VANS TMCE 0 VA AN 2016 OUSE YO MAKEYOUR MA AN with Mooncasket 1 HOUSE OF UANS HOUSEOF 2 OF "VANS 3 VANS HOUSE OF 4 - "VANS HOUSE OF VANE HOUSFO,street, people, portrait, bill, drag race, graffiti, urban, vintage, city, girl, music, signal, war, text, woman, travel, old, art, vehicle, adult)
A boy in a mask. (graffiti, people, portrait, tattoo, girl, woman, street, one, painting, festival, face, art, fun, beautiful, urban, man, fashion, adult, color, model)

20 DIY WORKSHOPS

The art of graffiti, making skateboards from scratch, and more are skills taught by experts at House of Vans, but we wanted to share them with readers. The book’s workshop spreads replicate these quintessential House of Vans experiences with step-by-step instructions and photos to empower the reader’s inner maker.

The first page of the book. (SKATEBOARDS FROM SCRATCH with Esteve Ayma of Aymaboards U ND ROUND THE EDGES AND THE BOARD DOWN CHOOSE YOUR WOOD The type of wood luse determines how flesible and herwy the to starL. lalwsys aim for a thiciness of abeut ta inch TRACE THE BOARD SHAPE Neut I trace the board shape which is based on a clasic tur CUT TH HOLES FOR MAKE THE THE TRUCKS ycutIuse adnill pres pe the board is tots the trucks, making sure he holes are totally -if they aren

Making Noise

Inspired by the homemade zines that embodied ’90s counterculture, we developed a common graphic language based on visual “noise” to weave together disparate House of Vans experiences from many continents.

The cover of the issue of magazine. (PUT THE SHOW ONTHE ROAD ted.There CH.4 med to that place se jst to take it down whe the kids start playing,music, people, business, bill, festival, performance, concert, technology, man, musician, singer, club, text, retro, movie, stage, signalise, screen, commerce, internet)
The cover of the magazine. (GORILLA HO BISCt EBOUNCING SOULS OUSE VANSMOOSE PARTIES . WTERN WALTER SCHREIFELS GORILLA BISCUITS,bill, festival, magazine, editorial, vehicle, people, music, woman, business, man, no person, layout, art, landscape, presentation, war, building, travel, retro, recreation)

Commissioned Illustrations

We art-directed an illustrator to add comic-book-style character vignettes throughout the book, another element that gives continuity as well as enhancing the feel of overflowing creativity and whimsy.

Digital art selected for the #. (business, paper, no person, text, newspaper, magazine, data, finance, money, education, press, information, conceptual, print, headline, achievement, facts, research, financial, desktop)
Digital art selected for the #. (set the -hop Fla vor the sien Aien,movie, business, no person, money, travel, paper, administration, editorial, music, industry, retro, airplane, landscape, people, production, festival, street, museum, vacation, recreation)

LAYERED, SCRAPBOOK LOOK

We scoured the archives of over 50 photographers who shot at House of Vans locations around the world in order to create a jam-packed visual experience. The result was a layered, scrapbook style of storytelling that pays homage to the House of Vans vintage brand aesthetic.

The cover of the magazine. (HALLS AUNTED LONDON AND SOUTH WESTERN RAILWAY.0 EXCESS LUGGAGE TICKET. N65397 o
Back to Top