Twisted, subversive and flat-out brilliant. That’s the only way to describe the art of Todd Francis. If you own a skateboard with graphics that everyone has to see, nobody understands and everybody wants, you know his work. We matched the art of this visionary with the science of vision to create a rare edition of Oakley EYEPATCH™. It’s a fusion of hard-edge lines, aggressive styling and a bent vision of nature that takes a jab at tact and taste and sends them down for the count.This frame will be produced in a limited quantity and just 100 will be available for online purchase. The packaging box of this collectors edition is covered with Todd’s artwork, which also appears on the MICROCLEAR™ bag, included for lens cleaning and frame storage.
The lenses of EYEPATCH™ create a smooth, continuous contour because we cut them from a single piece of lens material, like a sport shield, and mount them in the frame to maintain the original curve. The performance is unbeatable because we optimize it with HIGH DEFINITION OPTICS® (HDO®) for clarity that ordinary sunglasses can only dream about. Durable O MATTER® creates a lightweight frame that offers all-day comfort while the pure PLUTONITE® lenses obliterate every UV ray that even thinks about getting through. If you’re looking for the art of optics, this unique edition of EYEPATCH™ is a chance to own a subversive masterpiece.
Todd Francis
Todd Francis has been designing skate graphics for fifteen years. His artwork has helped define several distinct companies such as Element Skateboards, Stereo, Real Skateboards, Spitfire Wheels and New Deal Skateboards. He is perhaps best known for applying political and environmental satire to his past graphics for Antihero Skateboards, which continues in the artwork he develops today for Element.
Born in Los Angeles, Todd moved to San Francisco and began working for Deluxe in 1993, where he helped create graphics with Jim Thiebaud and Tommy Guerrero for Real Skateboards, and worked with Jason Lee and Chris Pastras developing art for Stereo. A couple years later, Julien Stranger started Antihero Skateboards, and Todd was soon creating logos and boards that were bold, cruel and just really screwed up. The Eagle Logo graphic he created for Antihero became an international skate icon, and the pro boards they designed featured heart-warming subject matter like incurable diseases, disgruntled employees, pigeon coitus and circus freaks.
After nine years of fog and beer, Todd decided to move back to the warm waters of Los Angeles in 1999, where he began working with Element and New Deal. After New Deal closed its doors, Todd focused upon clothing and board graphics for Element, where he created art for the world’s largest skateboard company and its stable of notable pro skaters like Bam Margera, Mike Vallely and Chad Muska. Todd continues to design for Element today, and his artwork and graphics have been shown in gallery shows all over the world.
In 2006, he was part of the Elementrio art tour that showed board graphics in galleries in London, Paris, Brussels and Berlin. Todd has also created numerous illustrations and designs for album covers, show posters, clothing companies, magazines and newspapers. Featured in Sean Cliver’s book Disposable: A History of Skateboard Art, Todd’s objectionable body of work can be seen at toddfrancis.com.
