In 1985, Rusty Preisendorfer, an accomplished shaper at Canyon Surfboards with a visual arts major from UCSD, launched Rusty Surfboards and created what has become one of the most iconic logos in all of surfing. The “R Dot,” as it came to be known, was designed to be simple enough for kids to draw on their notebooks.

Buoyed by the additions of Dave Parmenter and Mark Occhilupo, the trademark Rusty logo began to achieve a life of its own. Ridden by more than half the Top 16 surfers at the time, he was the most in-demand shaper anywhere.

This is the first part in a series about the conception and evolution of the Rusty brand.