The only cool pipe is a half pipe

Colourful drawings of everyday objects mixed with fun-looking monsters was the winning design of Wodonga Council’s Deck’d Design Competition.

The campaign involved a skateboard design competition, as well as a series of online workshops around mental health and wellbeing for the Border’s young people.

The primary objectives of the campaign is to focus on prevention, or things that would deter a young person from taking drugs and encourage and support young people to seek support.

Deck’d Design Competition winner Fletcher Brown, 14, (pictured above) was humble with his win, saying there were a lot of good designs.

“I couldn’t believe I had won,” he said.

The Xavier High School student enjoys drawing as a hobby.

“My art style is a bit crazy; I draw everyday objects and monsters together,” he said.

"I worked on my design for about a week and used a combination of pencil, fine liners and copic markers."

Fletcher also incorporated an important quote into his artwork that says, “The only cool pipe is a half pipe”.

“I got the quote while thinking of drugs and skateboarding and came up with the idea to incorporate both of them,” he said.

“This campaign is important as it helps young people focus on something they enjoy and not drugs.”

Fletcher’s dad Mark Brown said the competition combined his son’s two passions – skateboarding and drawing.

“It’s like the competition was made for him,” Mr Brown said.

“He did an awesome job and we are very proud of him.

“I know he was stoked when they read out his name as the winner and he was just blown away because he thought there were many talented designs.”

More than 60 young people took part in free skate lessons at the event held at Al's Skate Co and an art mural was painted at the venue on the day.

Wodonga Council Community Wellbeing Planning and Projects Officer Nicole Weyandt said the event asked young people to think about things in life that would keep them or a friend from developing a problem down the road with alcohol or drugs.

“Things like reaching out to friends, finding support, having hobbies, trying new things and really staying positive,” she said.

Deck’d has become an important annual event for not just our youth but also the entire community.

The campaign is funded by the Alcohol and Drug Foundation and supported by 45 Degrees Youth, including youth workers from nine North East Victorian councils, including: Wodonga, Indigo Shire, Mitchell Shire, Mansfield Shire, Alpine Shire, Benalla, Strathbogie, Towong and Wangaratta.

Border residents are encouraged to drop into Al's Skate Co and check out the pop-up gallery displaying works from the Deck’d Design Competition.