Westmont Magazine Surf Girl
Josephine Tournier Ingram ’00 is an artist who loves to surf and skateboard. That makes her ideal for her job as the lead designer for Surf One, a line of skateboards and clothing. After graduating from Westmont with a degree in art, she worked for a year at a graphic design firm before landing a job with Skate One Corp., the parent company of Surf One in Santa Barbara.
“I feel so lucky to design products I use and wear and can give as gifts,” she says. “It’s been empowering and exciting.”
Her first year at Skate One, Josephine developed a new logo for the company and completed a corporate identity program for the brand. Then she got to tackle a variety of projects, designing everything from skateboard wheels and decks to hats, clothing, stickers, banners and post cards for brands such as Powell Skateboards and Bones Bearings.
Skate One had never made a skateboard for girls, and Josephine got the opportunity to design several decks just for them. Known as Surf One Girl, the line of boards sports graphics such as Hawaiian flowers, stars and butterflies. Josephine describes them as a “tough yet feminine surf style.”
While in college, Josephine pursued her passion of art, discovering a particular acuity for graphic design. An internship with Sackett Design Associates in San Francisco during her semester with the Urban Program and a graphic design class with Westmont Instructor Scott Anderson confirmed this direction. For her senior project, Josephine produced five digital art pieces, a first for the art department (one of the images she created appears on page 14 of this magazine). The project reflects her anger and sorrow about the oppression of many women in Saudi Arabia.
When she was looking at colleges, Josephine had some concerns about Westmont. “I worried that a Christian school would be too small and would have just one mind set,” she said. “It was a leap of faith for me to come. But I was challenged to explore my faith, my values, my social views and my political ideals, and that has shaped me as an artist. I talked to my professors all the time and even shared personal problems. They were amazing mentors.”
Art provides one outlet for Josephine’s thoughts and feelings, and dance supplies another. At Westmont, Josephine belonged to the Windancers dance troupe, and she participated in N-Step, a hip hop group. She continues to perform hip hop, now with The Elite in Santa Barbara.
A year after graduating, Josephine married a fellow artist, Jared Ingram ’00. The communication studies major is a filmmaker. Since graduating, he has had his short films screened in several film festivals, including the Santa Barbara International Film Festival. He keeps busy directing short films and music videos, writing screenplays and working on a full-length feature film.
Although Josephine and Jared work in different media, they help each other and work together well as a team. “We inspire each other to be better artists, and we value each other’s work,” she says.