Toy Theory Applications within Illustration Research

My prospective PhD research asserts the illustrated motifs that adorn skateboards are exceptional cultural artefacts. The research intends to reveal the skateboard as a unique site of display by interpreting skateboard culture from the perspective of the illustrator. Drawing upon my positionality in relation to illustration practice and skateboard culture,
I have identified the 1980s as the period in which the skateboard deck graphic was formalised as both a distinct visual language and a marketable commodity. Encountering Seth Giddings’ 2024 book Toy Theory has
emboldened a methodological approach that reflects the excitement and risk integral to the skateboard experience. This paper conveys insights from Giddings’ work applicable to an expansive notion of illustration as a subject discipline – ‘demonstrating illustration to be performing as a creative interpretative process rather than a final outcome’.