Shawn Dumont at the Rome office, holding a skateboard he designed for Consolidated. Also pictured, Shawn's dutiful sidekick, his dog, Buster.

One of the most exciting times of the year is when board companies release their new catalogs for the season. Even if you have gotten sneak peaks of the next year's graphics and products at tradeshows, on blogs, or under the feet of pro riders, there's nothing that compares to holding the upcoming season's catalog in your hands and devouring every glossy page. Even with the availability of product information on the internet, nothing quite holds a candle to that new catalog feeling.

Before you get your mitts on a catalog, the behind-the-scenes of its creation involves dedicated-snowboarders-slash-graphic-designers, who spend hours developing, designing, laying out, and color correcting, before the final product can take form on your local shop's counter. Designers like Rome Snowboards' Shawn Dumont, wave goodbye to their family, friends, and significant others at the beginning of catalog season, a one-month period of office time in which spending the night at your desk instead of at home, is the norm. This may sound like an exaggeration, but it takes a lot of creative manpower to pump out a catalog, and while designers at snowboard companies everywhere love their work, it's not without stress.

Now that Dumont has wrapped up this round of catalog season, he listed the top five seven things that are necessary to make it through the month and emerge successful, finished catalog in hand. For any aspiring graphic designers and/or graphic design interns, take note.

Shawn's office is a visual party for anyone that enters. And look, he has two computer monitors. That means he's very professional.

1. Coffee, coffee, and more coffee. It used to beer, but I have found that doing layout drunk at 3 in the morning doesn't work all that well.

2. Cigarettes. You gotta get a couple of cartons first thing, so you don't run out late night and freak out because no stores are open.

3. An understanding girlfriend. Life as you know it completely stops when it's catalog season. Bills don't get paid, laundry doesn't get done, and everything you eat is delivery. Having an understanding girlfriend is necessary--it's nice to have someone that can make sure your life doesn't completely fall apart.

Shawn and his awesome girlfriend, Ali.

4. A good sleeping bag and pillow. I have spent nights on the office couch, covered with outerwear samples, with a sweatshirt for a pillow and it sucks.

5. A constant stream of Vermont Public Radio and This American Life episodes. No iTunes music library is big enough to hold enough music to sustain four weeks of constant play. I have burned out some of my favorite artists from over playing them.

6. Organization! With so many balls in the air its really easy to f' shit up so its important to keep your shit tight.

It's not all hard work, late night office shred sometimes breaks out.

7. Mike Forester [also a graphic designer at Rome]. Forester is a madman and I wouldn't have been able to make the catalog without him. If you are going to go through catalog season, make sure he is there to help you.

Shawn's artwork extends way beyond the snowboard world, as well. He draws and paints and is an accomplished printmaker. Two of his pieces, above.

To see more of Shawn's work, check out www.shawndumont.com