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For this week’s Discover LA Series, we visit the legendary Venice Beach Boardwalk.
The world famous Venice Beach Boardwalk is on most people’s to-do list when visiting Los Angeles. The boardwalk, which spans one and a half miles on the Southern California coast, is the second most visited destination is Southern California, according to Touropia.com. (Disneyland is the first.) And for a good reason! With such a wide variety of activities to do and people to watch, you can easily spend an entire day just cruising the ‘walk. Street performers, shops, and food stalls all cry out for your attention, while the skate park and legendary Muscle Beach beckon you as well. Pack a camera, because Venice Beach Boardwalk has it all.
But if you are wondering where to start or what to do, no problem! I listed out my five favorite things to do on the Venice Beach Boardwalk. Check it out below.
In my opinion, the best way to experience the boardwalk is by cruising down the beachfront bike path. The bike path is about 1.5 miles long with countless bicycle rental shops along the way. The path winds along the sun-soaked sand and leads to Santa Monica. It only takes about 15 minutes to get to the Santa Monica Boardwalk from Venice Beach, so venturing north to ride the ferris wheel is totally doable. Find a list of bike rentals HERE!
My favorite activity of them all – people watching! Observing both the locals and tourists that visit Venice is quite entertaining. Once you get to Venice, you will see that it is filled with all kinds of people and personalities. Along the path, there will also be many street performers, so catch a show or two. Check out the performers eating fire, singing, break dancing, juggling, playing instruments and more. Usually, bigger shows happen during the weekend when the performers attract larger audiences.
Venice Beach is a creative place, to say the least. You will find yourself amongst art walls, street displays, and artists selling their work on the boardwalk. Take the time to stop and appreciate the work of local artists! Maybe you’ll head home with a unique piece of your own. There is something for everyone here, with art ranging from watercolor and photography to graffiti art and balloon animals.
If you are looking for LA souvenirs, the boardwalk is the place to go! There are more than enough souvenir shops to find something for everyone on your list.
What’s a trip to Venice Beach Boardwalk without checking out the skate park? Watch skaters of all ages and experience levels hit the ramps at the famous Venice Beach Skate Park. This area is so popular that it even became a level in a Tony Hawk Pro Skater game. I love to take a break from shopping and perusing to watch the skaters do their tricks. On any given day, you can usually catch some really talented skaters!
And don’t forget to take a picture under the “Venice” sign on Windward Avenue and Pacific Avenue. (Like the photo featured at the beginning of this article.)
We’d love to see you and your favorite Blowfish Malibu shoes on the Venice Beach Boardwalk! Make sure to tag us for a chance to be featured @blowfishmalibu.
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At the beginning of May, we ventured out to the Westside to shoot our campaign for F/W 2018! Take a sneaky peek at the behind the scenes below…
If you are a regular reader of the Blowfish Malibu Journal, you know we love bringing you behind the scenes of our campaign photoshoots. (If you haven’t read them yet, check them out here!) Photoshoots are never easy; they involve a lot of effort, both physically and emotionally. Especially large campaign shoots like this one. Over the course of two days, our team ran all around Los Angeles getting everything together; doing it all from working with outside vendors, sorting out catering, styling models, and running across town to pick up permits at the (literal) the last minute.
This time around, we crossed our fingers that the weather would hold out, as a couple of days prior to the shoot, we dealt with rain storms and cloud cover. Seriously, just two days before the shoot, it was pouring at our headquarters in Culver City! Ultimately, we had perfect weather, fabulous locations and great people on set who made everything run smoothly. That being said, we still have plenty of time to have fun and enjoy the creative experience. Come on, who wouldn’t want to spend two days at the beach in the middle of the work week!?
We sat down with the resident Art Director at Blowfish Malibu, Nikol Drapeau, and asked her a couple of questions about prepping for the shoot. The biggest challenge for Nikol and her team? “The biggest challenge that we regularly face with photoshoots is trying to pair the shoes with outfits so we’re not cross-shooting the shoes for the same customer,” she says. “When we’re planning the shoes with outfits, they have to be different so the customer receives a variety of images.”
The customer in question? You(!) via our retailers. We sell directly to retail accounts like Amazon and Journeys so our team has to be aware of each individual account, as well as the customers (you again!) who shop with each of them. Everything we choose from the locations, to the models, to the styling, are selected with these specific retailers (ultimately you!) in mind.
Another challenge? “It can be hard to stay consistent with the theme. For example, we shot at El Matador State Beach and there’s only so many ways you can shoot there without it looking the same. It takes a team of creative people to come up with concepts that are different enough to keep the shots fresh and relevant.”
Despite all that, the biggest reward of photoshoots makes perfect sense. Nikol says: “The best part of all of this is getting to see the final images, once they come back to us from the photographer and his team. I always love that day that I get to go through all of them and see all of our hard work come into fruition!” Thanks for talking with us, Nikol!
Overall, the two-day shoot went perfectly and we’re so excited to see and share with you the finished product!
Insider tip: Keep an eye out for lots of shades of purples (specifically orchid!) as this color is going to be big for Fall/Winter. We’re bringing out some fresh prints for our sneakers, which are all designed in-house by our design team. Also, we’re bringing back a classic all time fave! (But you’ll have to stay tuned to find out what style that is…)
Throughout the course of the shoots, we took a TON of behind the scenes footage, so enjoy our little sneak peek into what is coming in the near future! Enjoy, and if you have any questions about to creative process or questions for Nikol and the team, don’t hesitate to reach out and ask!
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