Episode 9: Steve Hoskins
Steve Hoskin’s professional career is two-sided. There’s the founder of Steve-Bob branding and design studio, and there’s the photographer who has garnered a reputation snapping images for big brand names including Teva, Sonos, and Nike. And, seemingly, never the two shall meet.
In the most recent episode of watercolors, I talk to both sides of Steve about the intentional divide between his professional worlds, how photography and surfing take a certain spontaneous creative reactivity, and whether lifestyle is a four-letter word. Enjoy.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Did you grow up surfing in Oregon?
No, I grew up in Salem, which is the capital. It’s not that close to the beach and cold but I always wanted to be a surfer. I found some drawings recently when I was a kid of me holding a surfboard and I had dreams of going to University of Miami to surf. Didn’t happen. But I did skate and snowboard. Those were my things.
So when did surfing enter the picture?
I started working a bunch with Nike on Nike 6.0. It was the action sports version of Nike. It was with younger kids so we would do skateboarding, snowboarding, surfing, some BMX and other action sports things. And I ended up starting to go on a bunch of trips with them and one was a surf trip to Mexico. It was a boat trip and I got to surf a little bit. I was in my mid-twenties and thought, “Why am I not doing this all the time?”
I had been surfing a couple times, but it was always such a struggle in freezing cold water and the waves were pounding in Oregon most of the time. So then I had one buddy at the design agency that I used to work at and he was super into it. He would be out at the Oregon coast all the time. So I started surfing with him quite a bit more and then went on a few trips to Mexico and was able to spend weeks at a time surfing. I got super into it at that point and then it started dictating where I live and what I do and all the things.
How did it dictate where you live?
I wanted to live near the beach and be able to get in the ocean every day. Driving out from Portland to the coast was a struggle. It was definitely a big mission, an hour and a half at least each way. Then half the time you got skunked. I wanted to be in the sun and have better access to fun waves. So I ended up finding a job that led me here [Santa Barbara].
I wanted to try something different for a job too and California seemed like a good fit. I thought about moving to Mexico for a while, but it didn’t seem feasible for me and my wife.
Yeah, that’s a big commitment.
Yeah. Maybe one day.
I wanted to talk about the split between your photography and branding studio. It seems like you created an intentional division between the two. Can you tell me about those two entities and why you keep them separate?
I think the biggest thing is that my photography is more of a one person thing. Me and maybe the photo crew, but it’s more of a me thing. I want to be able to work with agencies and creative partners and not feel like I’m trying to get their work. It’s only photography.
And on the branding side, it’s more of a collective. It’s me and some project managers and I have some art directors and designers that work for me and everyone’s contract based. But a lot of the work is through connections I’ve had or people I’ve worked with in the past and friends. I love doing that side of it, the creative direction side where we get to do videos, content pieces, brand work, and product campaigns.
With photo stuff, you spend a day shooting photos, send them off, and the job’s done. Whereas the design stuff is a lot more about working through problems and it takes a lot longer. So I love having the two sides where it’s something that you do and it’s done and you ship off. And then the more branding thing where it’s a lot of back and forth, and collaboration with a client.
With branding and design, it seems like sometimes you have to sell a concept and with photography it doesn’t sound like that’s necessarily true. You are the artist and they’re paying you for that art, whatever kind of comes out. Is that what I’m hearing?
Yeah, a little bit. I mean there’s still back and forth and negotiating that happens with the photo stuff, but it’s definitely more of the action part of it. I don’t know if you can compare it to going surfing and riding the waves, but you’re doing the thing and reacting and making something and then it’s over. With the branding side, you’re more in it — more levers are getting pulled and the process is more drawn out.
It just seems like a different part of the creative brain, making the composition in a photo and working with a subject and having all those things come together in a way that’s interesting. It takes a lot of planning and thinking, but it’s also so reactionary in the moment to get the perfect thing.
Yeah, I can see how that would be a lot like surfing. Like a dance.
Yeah.
Your site focuses a lot on working with “real humans”. Curious to know what you mean by that.
I feel like people often do campaigns or brand strategies that aren’t thinking about a real person and how they interact with the brand and the concepts. Also I thought it was kind of funny, this idea of what AI is doing and how it’s changing the way we work, how we market, and even digital advertising and stuff like that.
But I love this idea of having true connections with people, telling stories, and being able to have things that feel like authentic moments. I think that’s pretty important. And I try not to use the word authentic because it gets overused. I also try to think of ways of talking about this topic in which you’re interacting with the subject matter and talking about a solution to whatever. I do a ton of footwear stuff, so if it’s a shoe, what makes that thing actually interesting and not trying to trick people and sell them.
I see. And how does that play out on the branding side?
I think it really depends on the brand. Also looking at the brand history, why they make the product, and what that has evolved into. I’m trying to lean into a lot of the inception and how the consumer uses that product to make the storytelling and the way you evolve a brand and why it makes sense with what you’re making. With Teva specifically, when I started working there, I worked with the product team a lot. It was pretty fun to try to make connections to what the product was designed for and why, and connect it all the way down to the marketing to tell that same specific story. Then I’ve been able to do that with a number of other brands, less of the product specific stuff, but the actual storytelling and the evolution of why a brand is doing what it’s doing.
On your site you say that your “brand truth” is your biggest asset. Is that what you’re talking about?
Yeah, I would say so. The website needs to be updated a bit, but you know how it goes. I’m working on a new reel that’s been in the works for a year probably.
Do you get a lot of work from your reels?
So much of the stuff that we’re making is video and motion, so seeing stuff move and interact and feel like it’s on a website versus static work, in that regard I really liked it. You can show photos, video, brand logos, and such in a way that feels a little more engaging than just a selection of stills or frames of it and add music and get a little more of a vibe to it. Then I get hesitant to go real deep on a lot of the different stories or different projects on the website. I’ll show them more one-on-one with clients than having it on the .com.
You also call out on your site the importance of consistency and I wanted to get your take on it with regard to a brand.
Oh, yeah. I have mixed feelings on this actually. Being consistently quality and having a visual language that you can lean onto, I think that’s really important. But there’s a danger when you get into consistency where you tend to be boring or telling the same story over and over again. It’s important to make sure what we’re doing is constantly feeling like a new conversation so you’re not telling the same story.
But then there are platforms where if you don’t say similar things or the same kind of thing a number of times, people often don’t see it. When you work so close with a brand or in a brand, you tend to get really bored with the work before it really has a chance to be seen by the audience. Oftentimes you’re just changing for change sake instead of having a reason for actually making updates.
So how do you fight that kind of brand fatigue where you want to shake things up even though it’s not necessary?
I think making plans for when you’re going to update and thinking about seasons in a strong way is important. And working with the marketing teams to be like, “this is our opportunity to advance out of this brand look”. Maybe there’s a specific product story we’re going to tell and that’s where we push the envelope of our type and colors or photography. To be able to test a little bit, see what looks good, see what people are reacting to. But I don’t know the perfect solution for how you don’t get it internally. I think it is more about being able to be consistent and be able to keep doing something over and over again and know that it’s the right thing versus getting bored and change on a whim.
That makes sense. Ok so I’m really interested to hear your answer to this next question because it seems that you work a lot with outdoor brands, athletic brands, and brands that could be described as a “lifestyle brand”. I know that some people like the term “lifestyle” and some people aren’t so keen on it. Interested to hear your take.
It’s so funny because I was talking to somebody a couple days ago about this and was trying to describe what kind of stuff that I’ve been shooting and not use the term “lifestyle”. It’s such a weird word and it feels dated as well.
Everybody has some sort of lifestyle. It’s not really specific to an outdoor person. But then I ended up using the term because the way I was describing it wasn’t really that clear either. It’s not necessarily fashion, which feels like the wrong word. It’s not a specific sport or activity. I don’t necessarily like lifestyle as a term, but I don’t have another word to use instead.
We used to talk about this a lot with action sports too. What is the term for this group of sports that are alternative or what some people would call “extreme” at the time. And “action sports” tended to be the term that was the most accepted but nobody really liked.
Do you think you have to have a connection to sports to have that lifestyle tag associated with it?
I don’t think so. You could use it for a hacky sack brand or weed.
That’s true. I saw the reel you made for Trevor Gordon and it looked so rad, but it’s not necessarily anything out of the ordinary. There’s some surfing and sailing. It mostly looks like a lovely time.
I just love that he and people like him have built a life that is following their passions and they don’t have a nine-to-five job. In some ways it probably makes it more difficult because he has to pitch ideas and content to brands. But it’s something that people are going to envy because it’s different than the American model of hustling. It’s definitely something that has inspired me to structure my business and what I do. I’m trying to make time to scoot out of the office. A lot of the remote things that had happened in the pandemic I had already been doing for the last few years. Things like working with brands remotely and working with a collective of people that aren’t necessarily in the same building.
Maybe lifestyle actually is a decent word for it but now it has so much baggage?
Just the term feels generic and not ownable. But there is this pretty interesting way that people have carved out the way they work and the way they are active that feels different and more interesting to me than maybe a traditional job and regular sports.
Have you found yourself working with that style of individual or brand more and more?
Yeah, I do some other work but I love working with the brands that are outdoor, adventure, activity, surf brands. Even that sort of lifestyle category.
Is it important to you to keep those things closely related: your work and that style of brand? Or is it where you found yourself?
I have a lot of passion for it so it comes a little bit easier. But I do love working with some other brands that have a piece of that. There are also other sides that are really interesting, whether it’s a high design aesthetic or something different. I work with the Sonos speaker company quite a bit and they’re not necessarily in that space. It’s a tech product but built around a love of music and an excellent product. Their aesthetic is really good and high end. I love working with that kind of challenge where the expectations are high, the visuals are going to be really good, and the production might be a little more dialed. But I like rolling around in dirt, taking photos and going camping.
So what’s the dream project?
Oh gosh, what have I been thinking about doing? I think I’d be doing some more documentary style films and telling more stories. I’ve been working with the Toms brand and they work with partners that are giving back to their community.
I got to be part of this mini-series that we did where we’re telling short stories of the partners. We did one with Homeboy Histories, they help people coming out of jail and getting out of gangs in downtown LA. They’ve built this huge organization and helped thousands of people get out of violence, find jobs, reentry into the working world from being in prison. And so we got to do these profiles of that organization.
Another was called The Dinner Party, which is an organization that helps people grieving from loss. The age range is between 20 and 40-ish, so these are the type of people that don’t usually lose a loved one. There’s not the same kind of support networks that maybe an elderly person or a kid would have. Another one was called Brave Trails, which is a queer summer camp for LGBTQ+ kids that wouldn’t necessarily have a summer camp experience.
So it’s getting to do these videos and meeting super interesting people and telling their story. I would love to do more of that, the little profile pieces.
That’s awesome. I could see how that would be fulfilling. These people are just living their lives and you can capture that even though it may not be as appealing as someone who’s on a surfboard.
Not getting barrelled? [laughing]
Well, speaking of getting barrelled, your photography is amazing. I’m wondering, do you think photography does an adequate job representing surfing and surf culture?
I mean there’s so much amazing historic photography in surfing and it’s such a big part of the sport so I would say, yeah. I love looking at Surfer’s Journal. I mean, video gives you the full representation of what a whole wave might look like but the moments and the way a photo is framed is amazing. I love the medium for surfing actually.
Do you do a lot of surf photography?
No, I don’t do any.
Oh, really? Is that by choice?
I think so. When I’m at the beach in the surf, I want to go surfing. I never thought, “I want to take photos instead.” Oftentimes they’re so prescriptive that I didn’t have the bandwidth to necessarily say I’m going to reinvent surf photography and make something that’s super interesting. But it’s so cool when people do.
Who are some surf photographers that you really enjoy?
There’s this one dude, his name’s Woody Gooch. He takes some rad surf photos. I never met the guy.
And early on I worked with this guy Jason Kenworthy, who’s a surf photographer, used to work for Surfing, Surfer, one of those, I can’t remember which one, as a staff photographer. Just talking to him was pretty interesting because he had spent so much time on the beach shooting photos for the magazines and I don’t know after that I was like, “I don’t know if I really would want to be not in the water when you’re at the beach and just standing waiting for somebody to get the perfect wave.”
I’ve worked with Morgan Maassen, he’s super good. He’s also from Santa Barbara.
The other photographer I wanted to mention is Josh Letchworth. He’s taught me so much. He would shoot a lot of the Nike stuff, pretty much all the Nike stuff that we worked on. So he and I would travel around a lot together. I was art director, he was photographer. He takes some amazing water and surf shots.
Well one of the last questions I ask is what are you riding right now? What’s under your feet?
The board I’ve been riding the most recently is a 10' 5" glider by Andrew Fletcher, a buddy of mine. He has a little shaping thing called Don’t Quit the Plane. He does these insane looking resin splatter paint jobs. They’re really cool and I’ve been getting boards from him for a few years.
Yeah, whenever it’s chest high or bigger I’ll ride that. I have quite the collection of surfboards. I just ordered an 11' glider too.
11'? That’s huge!
Yeah. I’m going to spear some kids.
Learn more about Steve’s photography and the Steve-bob studio.
