History Of The Screaming Hand Logo

Created in 1985 by illustrator Jim Phillips, the hand served as an overall brand image for the entire Speed Wheels line, which included Slime Balls, Bullets, and OJs. With a blood-stained compound fracture, flapping tendons and misplaced mouth piece. This aggro amputee became one of the most recognizable skate logos of all time.

"I’m often asked where I got the idea for the Screaming Hand. Sometimes an idea just pops in my mind, and I’ve trained myself to be receptive. Screaming Hand dates back to high school where I often spent my time drawing surfing and skateboard pictures and gave them to my friends. In typical surf scenes I would draw a big wave and a goofy surfer with sight gags around him like circling shark fins or a clenched hand sticking out of the water like a drowning guy. That intrigued me further after I saw a real drowned guy on the beach. I drew the clenched hand on my book covers and notepads. Fast forward to 1985, NHS was forming a wheel line and asked Jim for a Speed Wheels Santa Cruz logo. As I sat at my drawing table and clenched my left hand, I penciled a sketch, thinking about how powerful the hand is, how for thousands of years artists have used hands and gestures to express emotion. Then I looked at my deep palm center and it seemed like a mouth, and how much more expressive if it had a mouth right in the palm, and how much more if it was screaming! I got pretty worked up and knew my drawing would make a cool logo. I took it to the Speed Wheels manager and it became an instant hit. Santa Cruz made stickers and T-shirts, and soon the Screaming Hand proved itself as a powerful icon that has certainly earned its own way."

- Jim Phillips