Before Hughes Surfboards, there was Wave Graffitti.

Wave Graffitti was established in the 80’s over in Ulladulla, NSW, where the late Craig Hughes – our old man and Raglan Surf Co founder, was living at the time, surfing and shaping surfboards. 

Inspired by the graffiti movement and under the moniker of Wave Graffitti, Craig’s boards took on a life of their own, with his hand drawn bold graphics, fluro sprays and that unforgettable skate grunge vibe. 

A couple summer's ago, we dove into Dad’s old art archives and found some of his staple Wave Graffitti designs, and thought it would be good way to share our shaping history. 

With a bit of a rework and a wave that now goes left, respectively, we released Dad's Wave Graffitti print two summer's ago. 

  

A few months ago we pulled out the old artwork folder again, and thought we’d take it a step further and bring out the old man’s ‘Hell Bat’. 

A few of the original Hell Bat screens. 
As the story goes, the original Wave Graffitti ‘Hell Bat’ was inspired by Skeleton Big Ben, from that 1980’s horror/comedy film, House. One night in Ulladulla the movie was on the tv at a friends house and in one of the scenes, Big Ben popped out of the closest with this machine gun and dad was sold–he thought it was hilarious and he decided to make up one of his own. 

And so, we have the Hell Bat, another original Wave Graffitti print, with a Surf Co upgrade.

 

There's a few out there who might be lucky enough to have one of Dad's old boards donned with a Wave Graffitti design, if you've got one on hand we'd love to see it. 

Both the Wave Graffitti print and the Hell Bat are now available in-store and online.