Interview with Kevin Tonkin of Royale and Brilyent

Posted by Antonea Nabors on March 4, 2009

Kevin Tonkin is an motion graphic animator at Royale, the people responsible for projects such as rebranding Discovery Channels schedule menu to creating onstage elements for Madonna’s latest tour. He is also a co-owner and designer of the skateboard manufacturing company, Brilyent. It is refreshing to see well-designed art displayed on original surfaces. I have been really intrigued by the artwork featured on the Brilyent skateboard decks, so what better way to find out more about the art then to sit down with the man behind the monitor.

How was Brilyent founded and what is the meaning behind the name?
After school everyone moved to different places, and work kind of took over. I’ve skated my whole life and couldn’t imagine being without it. So, to stay connected with skating and friends, we went and made this little company, Brilyent about a year ago. It’s totally for fun and all of our profits go to skateparks or awesome new Brilyent gear. It’s a good way to stay connected with people, and keep in touch with the skateboard industry. As for the name, we threw a couple at the wall, Brilyent was the only one to stick. And WhaleCock was already taken. Crap.
Where do you find inspiration for the graphics you create for the skate decks?
Inspiration comes from all over, it’s really random. A lot of it will come from the skateboard culture. Like one shirt that reads “drop tre bombs, not A-bombs.” “Tre bomb” being a slang word for a trick that probably only skateboarders would relate to. We don’t want to leave anyone in the dark though that’s for sure. The latest inspiration came from some dude popping his collar. It’s always really simple stuff, we just like building on it.
Your graphics are pretty abstract and complex, do they hold a deeper meaning, or are they just something pretty to look at?
Our graphics are usually thought up in like a minute, but we’ll spend weeks exploring the idea. We always make sure they somehow relate to us. Or else it’d be pretty meaningless, and any other company could do it. Our first graphic was a mailtruck crashing through some city with four hands gripping it from the inside. It symbolized Brilyent crashing onto the skateboard scene. That’s the mailtruck we’d drive around while growing up, full of random skateable stuff we’d find around the city. The four hands are the four people who helped get Brilyent off the ground. And that mysterious city is where we’re from, Oswego NY, hence the smoke stacks.. hollerr. We even threw another companies logo in there, hidden in the wood chips. We’re all friends here.
Personally, I love my sketch book. Do you sketch all of your designs beforehand?
Heck yeah I use a sketch book.. I find it way easier NOT to be in front of the computer when you start designing. Ideas start flying out your head way faster than you can pen tool. I just sketch stuff real sloppy on paper, and figure out what it all means later. Being an animator, I’m usually the one taking the pre-made designs and making them move. It’s definitely fun being on the other side of things.
Can you take us through your design process from start to finish?
The designs are always pretty spur of the moment. We never sit down and try to force something out. Something will usually happen or something will be said, and we’ll just feel like sharing it. Once we have a genius idea, I’ll start sketching it out. Most of the time we don’t even have a purpose for it, we just want to make it! Eventually we’ll have to figure out what it’ll even be used for. If it’s a deck, will it be portrait or landscape? If it’s a shirt, where will it be placed? Sometimes the idea will be scrapped completely. Like when we held a photoshoot for a poster, only to find out the camera was on some 72 dpi setting and we couldn’t use any of it. I’ll get back to you on the meaning of “Brilyent”.
Thanks so much for the interview! Also thanks to anyone who’s supported us, maybe you have a thumb stuck on your car, or maybe your rockin’ the lime green board. Whatever it is, thank you!
Royale’s Skate @ 8 spot for Fuel TV

Thanks so much for taking the time to enlighten us Kevin.

To find out more about Brilyent check them out at http://www.brilyent.com. Also be sure to take some time to look at some of the work Kevin has been a part of at Royale and and view their demo reel.