Ryan Schmies Gallerie
Ryan Schmies has a fascination for cats, a love for Leinenkugel beer, a supposedly squirrel-mangled hand, and is arguably the most dedicated skier in Seattle. For the past 10 years, Schmies has also been the mind behind the K2 Factory Team’s infamously ghoulish and often-disturbing artwork, shaping one of the most-unique and shockingly creative visual paths in the ski industry. A glimpse inside the twisted genius of Ryan Schmies.
Anyone who’s skied a K2 Factory Team ski in the past 10 years—think Seth Pistol, Fujative, Made’n AK or the HellBent—has likely spent hours staring at the often-disturbing and sometimes-perverted artwork of Ryan Schmies. The 32-year-old’s designing career at K2 spans a solid decade and 178 pairs of skis—over 140 of those drawn by hand, his preferred creative method. For most of those years, Ryan was K2’s lead graphic designer; these days he’s not sure what his actual title is, but as far as I can tell it’s “Creative Director.” But who is this mind that has sculpted the twisted and shocking visual path since 2003? I’ve known Ryan since we were 18, and I’m still not really sure I know. To give a frightful glimpse, here are nine things you didn’t know about the notorious Ryan Schmies…