Surfrider SMC's Logo Contest Winner!

When Surfrider San Mateo County saw Surfrider San Francisco's logo of a big blue wave curling under the Golden Gate Bridge, a bit of chapter jealousy arose, so we asked our community to create a logo, representative of the San Mateo coastline, as well as embody a Surfrider theme.

We received many incredible entries from super talented artists. We liked each of them for different reasons, with Honorable Mention going to the images of: the lighthouse at the point, the surfer getting tubed against a background of our beautiful coastline of shadowed ridgelines and sandy-orange bluffs, and a light- and dark-orange silhouette of a surfer nearing the trough of a double-overhead cresting wave. Thank you, each of you, who submitted your work!

Unfortunately, we could only choose one to be the contest winner and we chose Veronica Blanco's interchange of waves and birds. We felt this logo embodied the Surfrider theme by its fresh representation of clean water, with a display of healthy marine life of birds flying above a lively sea, and the extending dark- and light-blue lines which end in hints of flora and seaspray. This design also met the criteria to be one- to two-color format and will easily translate for small to large print needs. We are lucky to live in a county with such a healthy and rural coastline, and we feel that Veronica's logo, while not explicitly detailing the geologic and biologic features of San Mateo County's coastline, is an art that expresses the healthy environment in which we get to live and play.

Surfrider San Mateo County thanks Veronica for sharing her idea and passion with our chapter by creating such a beautiful logo. We're stoked and no longer jealous over the logo of our chapter friends' to the north.

Please look for our new logo on navy tee shirts and stickers at our 2009 beach clean-ups. Allow us to introduce Veronica to you through this mini interview:

How did you hear of Surfrider San Mateo County's Logo Contest?
Word of mouth, a friend surfer in Pacifica, who forwarded the email to me because she knows I'm a designer.

How long have you been surfing?
5 years. I learned in Pacifica. I stood up on the first lesson and have been self-taught since. Love the water, love the sensation and connection with the ocean.

Favorite break?
Linda Mar. I like Pacifica. I like the community.

What got you into graphic design?
The Arts. Being creative. I find design work is a way to express my feelings, to create, and do the things I like which represent my thoughts.

What kind of work do you provide to your clients?
I do freelance graphic design from post cards to helping people start their business with a logo, stationery. Currently I'm more focused on advertising and marketing design. I enjoy the variety of clients who make the work richer by a wide range of opportunities: notepads, logos, images, printer who fits business needs. I mainly communicate with my clients by using the computer and internet to share files online.

How could prospective clients connect with you?
Phone: 415-864-0864
E-mail: vblanco at mac.com
Website: http://www.veronicablanco.com

Another Reason Why Water Quality Testing Is Important

Surfers face highest risk of ingesting dirty water

...a new study out of Oregon State University indicates precisely why this filthy water is of particular concern. Surfers ingest much more polluted ocean water during a typical outing than do swimmers and other user groups.

The study surveyed more than a thousand surfers along Oregon's rugged coast – which, naturally, has much less pollution than that typically found in Southern California oceans – to find out how much water they took in during a typical session.

“The health risks for swimmers have been studied for many years, by determining the amount of water they take in and then looking at water quality,” Anna Harding, a professor in OSU's Department of Public Health, told The Register-Guard in Eugene, Ore. “But no studies have been done before with surfers in terms of trying to figure out how much water is taken in.”

The results of the study are fairly shocking, as it found that surfers take in 10 times more water during a typical outing than do swimmers.

For years, clean-water advocacy groups such as the Surfrider Foundation and Heal The Bay have monitored water pollution levels and assigned grade reports to each surf spot, but the OSU study is unique in trying to determine just how much water surfers typically ingest, thereby making it easier to pinpoint health risks to surfers and other ocean users.

The high level of ocean water consumption, combined with known bacteria levels in the water, account for the sinus, ear, nose and throat infections that surfers typically battle all winter....