From Portugal to the World - Gonçalo Lozano, Flint Ltd

Winter is finally here… or as I like to call it, Frosty the Snowman is just around the block!

2024 has been an incredible year for us at WeOuri. We published our very first article in February, and from there, each article and story only got better and better. To wrap up this amazing year, we have a special gift for you. Our introduction to the fingerboard community was through one of our most beloved content series, Maker’s Insight, and we’re thrilled to close 2024 with another one.

For the last episode of Maker’s Insight 2024, we invited a very special guest from Porto, Portugal. If you’ve seen the teasers on our Instagram, you probably already know who we’re talking about, haha. Yes, we invited Gonçalo Lozano, Founder and Operator of @flint_ltd.

Flint has been one of my personal, largest inspirations since I started making fingerboards myself. From the incorporation of traditional methods to the way a brand’s ethos is presented to the community — and even the importance of product packaging — Flint has set a standard that continues to inspire me.

We’re very excited to share with you our conversation with Loz about fingerboarding, craftsmanship, and the Portuguese fingerboard community.

Here is the story and insight of Gonçalo Lozano, the creative force behind Flint.

Gonçalo Lozano, Founder of Flint / Photo by: Manu Oberle

(NY) Please introduce yourself to our readers!

(GL) Hey! My name is Gonçalo Lozano, aka Loz. I’m 38, living in Porto, Portugal, and I’m a happy person with a girlfriend, 2 cats, and a fingerboard brand!

Logo engraved on Maple / Photo by: Gonçalo Lozano

(NY) What inspired you to start Flint, and what values or ethos does Flint embody?

(GL) Soooo… 😛 Flint was a project I started in 2014/2015 when I was working at a product design company. While I was there, they gave me full support to do whatever I wanted during my free time. That’s when I had the idea to revive an old project I’d started around 2005 with a friend (who’s also a Flint rider) named Masserra. Back then, we made decks and called it LOMA.

Páteo Session / Photo by: Gonçalo Lozano

(NY) How do the Portuguese fingerboard community and the Portuguese culture at large influence Flint?

(GL) The Portuguese scene is old school! The first event I attended was in 2007, where I met lots of people who are still true friends to this day. They were a big inspiration, for sure! André Coral and Gil Dias started LowPro back then, and they were also very into the “design world.” They were definitely big inspirations for me.

Ricardo from Oak Wheels / Photo by: Gonçalo Lozano

The same goes for Ricardo from Oak Wheels! We met in 2009, and since then, he’s been like a brother to me. He always pushed me to create Flint and grow it as a brand.

As a fingerboarder and person, I’m also thankful for all the Flint team riders! These guys push me more and more to fingerboard better and to better understand what the younger generation is up to. Big hugs to Irish, Pedro, and Eduardo — the Páteo dudes are always there! Special shoutout to Masserra and Michael — my older bros — who have always supported Flint with love and friendship! And of course, my French bro Treijinha, who always finds time to visit us here or meet up in different countries. He’s always bringing serious skateboarding skills and FB style with him!

Screen printing / Photo by: Gonçalo Lozano

(NY) You are one of the original craftsmen who implemented screen printing as a method for applying artwork on fingerboards. How do you approach the design and production process for your products? Can you share the reason why you hold on to the “traditional” techniques?

(GL) I started making the prints using screen printing because, for me, it was the best way to connect art and fingerboarding. It’s still an artistic process with some challenges, especially at the beginning. Plus, I realized the wear on the boards looked amazing!

Photo by: Gonçalo Lozano

Thankfully, I found someone in my hometown who could do it exactly how I wanted! His name is Rodrigo Neto, and he owns a screen printing lab called Ofi Atalaia. Much love to him — he’s been helping me since almost the beginning! Every graphic from Flint is handmade by this guy. Together, we work on getting the best color combinations and strive for perfection in multi-color prints (not an easy task).

The approach is kinda simple: I talk with the artist, give them some basics about the brand, and send them a template where they have to use 3 colors (or 4, if you count the wood color). These colors are black, white, and the season color, which changes every year (or at least I try to make it that way, hahaha). This way, you can tell how old a deck is just by the color. For example, if you have a red artist series deck, it’s from 2015-2016. This approach also gives the brand a fresh look each year, haha.

Photo by: Gonçalo Lozano

(NY) Flint is well known for its variety of series (logo, artist, photo). How did you come about this idea and incorporate it into your brand?

(GL) Flint started as a limited-edition brand. The idea was to invite artists to collaborate with me on a series of numbered decks. But I wanted to turn Flint into my full-time job, and to do that, I had to create other editions and bring to life the ideas I had in mind.

Flint Logo Series / Photo by: Gonçalo Lozano

That’s when the Logo Series came to life. The idea was to have decks that would always be available on the website. But ironically, they sell out just as fast as the Artist Series decks, hahaha!

Flint Photo Series / Photo by: Gonçalo Lozano

Then came the Photo Series. I wanted to create something with more potential for precision and diversity. I was hugely inspired by brands like Polar Skateboards and felt pushed to incorporate photography on the boards. To achieve the effect I wanted, I started using different techniques from the usual screen printing process. This is how the Photo Series was born. They are also artist collaborations, but they aren’t numbered like the Artist Series.

Pressing machine / Photo by: Gonçalo Lozano

(NY) What are your plans for Flint in the next few years? Any upcoming projects or collaborations you are excited about?

(GL)  Always hyped! Hahaha! I have lots of ideas for what I want to do, but sometimes they just take time because I always want to do them as well as possible. But I can say that I want to start making other things besides fingerboards 😉. I just need to find the time to achieve what I have in mind!

Páteo Session / Photo by: Gonçalo Lozano

(NY) What does fingerboarding personally mean to you beyond Flint?

(GL) Fingerboarding has always been special for me ever since I found one on the street in my hometown in 2001. I never thought you could do so many tricks on it until my brother told me there was a guy in his school who could do kickflips over books (which I found impossible).

Flint’s iconic cork packaging / Photo by: Gonçalo Lozano

The next year, that guy ended up in my class. His name was Masserra! 😛 This dude represents friendship over the years. Fingerboarding was always part of our lives, so it’s kinda hard to separate fingerboarding from my life.

This tiny piece of wood allowed me to meet so many different people from all over the world. It’s an object through which we can express ourselves in countless ways. You can be in the USA, Germany, or all the way on the other side of the world in the Philippines, and the feeling is the same. Somehow, we’re all connected by this tiny skateboard.

Sanding / Photo by: Gonçalo Lozano

(NY) What other passions or hobbies do you have aside from Flint and fingerboarding?

(GL) Haha, that’s a good question! I have a lot of things I’m passionate about, from computer games to fashion. But I must say my biggest passion is cars!

Photo by: Gonçalo Lozano

Fifty percent of my life revolves around fingerboarding and fingerboard-related stuff, and the other half is about cars… old JDM cars, to be specific, haha! I’m not a huge connoisseur, but I love the shapes and forms of old cars. There’s something special about them — maybe it’s their simplicity or the fact that they’re non-technological.

I can lose hours and hours behind a computer, looking at them and being happy, hahaha!

Photo by: Gonçalo Lozano

(NY) Lastly, is there anything else you would like to add for the readers?

(GL) Be happy that you’re part of a big community that spans the whole world. Save some money if you can and visit different fingerboard scenes in other parts of the planet. You won’t regret it! And lastly, get together! I’m doing this because people got together. I met some of my best friends because of fingerboarding. Get out from behind your desk and go fingerboard with your friends!

And this is where we close the first chapter of WeOuri 2024. It has truly been an incredible year for us, thanks to the support from our contributors, our guests, and our readers. We cannot thank each and every one of you enough for the unforgettable year we’ve had.

More importantly, we can’t wait to share all the new projects we have planned for 2025! As always, stay tuned and have a wonderful holiday season. We’ll be back with more stories soon :)

- Noah Yang

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