In December 2009 the Jobe Wakeboard Design Contest was organized. Jobe invited consumers through various media to make a design for a Jobe wakeboard. The contest was a great success and Jobe received a huge amount of wakeboard designs. A couple of months ago the winner of the Jobe Wakeboard Design Contest was announced: Ben Sterzenbach. The stylish board Ben designed is named ‘Illustrious’ and is included in the 2011 Jobe / Jstar wakeboard collection.
Recently, Ben Sterzenbach was invited to Jobe’s head office to officially receive the first Illustrious wakeboard which he designed himself. Jobe also had an interview with Ben and of course we did not want to withhold you of the outcome.
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| Jobe's Marketing Manager with Ben Sterzenbach |
Jobe: Hello Ben, first of all how are you doing?
Ben: I am doing fine thanks. My trip to your head office went well and I slept very well at the hotel.
Jobe: Nice! Tell us something more about yourself, so people get an idea of who you are.
Ben: I am Ben Sterzenbach, I am 26 years old and I live in Berlin (Germany). I started studying media design in 2005 and when I finished this study I decided to work for a mid-sized graphic agency in Berlin. Moreover, in my free time I participate in a couple of design contests.
Jobe: What is your position in the graphic agency you are working for?
Ben: I am a graphic designer for a mid-sized company. This company makes designs for the medical industry. I am responsible for the design of advertisements and campaigns.
Jobe: Nice creative job man! What are your hobbies?
Ben: Last year I started wakeboarding and I really liked it instantly. I definitely want to continue wakeboarding to improve my skills. Furthermore, I like to hang out with friends and to play video games.
Jobe: Was it hard for you to learn to wakeboard?
Ben: Wakeboarding was not very hard to learn for me because I snowboard a lot. For me riding a snowboard does almost feel the same as riding a wakeboard.
Jobe: I am just curious, how did you know about the Wakeboard Design Contest?
Ben: That’s a funny story! I did not receive all the press releases and the advertisements for the design contest but because I like to participate in design contest I typed ‘Design Contest’ in Google. Then I saw that Jobe had started a wakeboard design contest. I immediately started to design for this contest. I really like to design products for board sports and of course I really wanted to win my own wakeboard with my name on it.
Jobe: haha ok! did you participate in other contests this year?
Ben: This year I only participated in the Jobe wakeboard design contest. However, two years ago I participated in a kite surfing design contest. I really like to participate in board design contests, in the future I hope to work for a board design company.
Jobe: How did you get the idea of the design you made for the wakeboard?
Ben: For me summer equals ice cream. Moreover, the wakeboard scene is very colourful and fun. These two things I bundled in my design, I designed ice cream with faces and I used very outspoken colours which resulted in a perfect combination.
Jobe: Really nice to hear your story behind your design! How long have you been working on it.
Ben: I have been working on the illustrious design for 2 weeks. Furthermore, I made another wakeboard design which was much more organic and 3 dimensional. In that design I used mostly blue and green colours.
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| Ben Sterzenbach with winning design |
Jobe: You just had a guided tour through the head office of the Jobe and Jstar brands, what was your first impression of the company?
Ben: To be honest, the head office was nearly the same as I had imagined. It has a very friendly and nice atmosphere. Moreover, I really like the big paintings of water sports action shots and lifestyle photos on the walls of the company. It really represents the Jobe brand.
Jobe: Have you ever been in the Netherlands before?
Ben: When I was a child I went to the Netherlands, but I can’t remember much of it. What I still know is that I ate ‘poffertjes’ which is a typical Dutch dish.
Jobe: Are you into water sports?
Ben: I practice wakeboarding for a hobby and I want to improve my skills. Besides wakeboarding, I do not participate in other water sports.
Jobe: Jobe / Jstar just handed the wakeboard to you, had it the end result you had hoped for?
The result of the wakeboard was exactly how I wanted it to be. The colours and the graphics are very nice on the board. I was really proud when I was handed over my own designed wakeboard.
One last question: Are you going to ride your new wakeboard or are you going to exhibit it in your house?
Ben: First, I am going to exhibit the wakeboard in my house and next year in the water sports season I am going to ride it. It is really special if you can ride a wakeboard you designed yourself with your name on it. I am going to make all my friends jealous!!
