Tom Fuller on Painting Helmets for Red Bull, Monster & Why He'll Never Stop
The Ride Companion
TRC Media House
4.9 • 533 Ratings
🗓️ 18 June 2025
⏱️ 98 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Tom Fuller is the co-founder of Image Design Custom and, the man behind the paint on some of the most iconic helmets in two-wheel sports.
From Red Bull Rampage and the UCI World Cup, to motocross legends and movie stars like Tom Cruise and Henry Cavill, his work has quietly shaped the visual identity of action sports for decades. In this episode, Tom joins us to share his journey from painting helmets in his dad's garage as a teenager to running Image Design Custom, the UK's leading custom paint house. We cover how a single airbrush sparked a lifelong obsession, getting his big break with Red Bull, painting 21,000 phone cases a day for Nokia, and why helmet design is still all about the details.
This is Kaos Seagrave like you've never heard him before.
If you've ever admired a custom lid or wondered what really goes into them, this one's for you...
Learn more about Image Design Custom https://imagedesigncustom.co.uk
BIG thanks to this episode's sponsors:
- HipLok: Get 20% off the entire store with code RIDECOMPANION20 at https://hiplok.com/the-ride-companion (Offer excludes DX1000 D lock and AX1000, A1000 anchors)
- With all these pro rider insights you're going to want to recover like a pro too! Get 20% off with code 'THERIDECOMPANION' at https://www.compex.com/uk/
Support our long term partners:
- Marin Bikes: marinbikes.com/gb
- Focus Bikes: focus-bikes.com
- HUEL: Get 15% OFF with code 'RIDE' at huel.com/
- Hiplok: https://hiplok.com/the-ride-companion
- Nissan Vans: nissan.co.uk/vehicles/new-vehicles/primastar.html
- Play Fantasy Downhill at The Race Companion:
theracecompanion.com
instagram.com/theracecompanion
- Get 10% off Troy Lee Designs with code 'theridecompanion' at saddleback.avln.me/c/OzduCWvjtcOr
- Athletic Greens: Get a FREE 1-year supply of Vitamin D AND 5 FREE travel packs at athleticgreens.com/RIDECOMPANION
- Compex: Get 20% off with code 'THERIDECOMPANION' at compex.com/uk/
- Worx: Get 15% off with code 'THERIDECOMPANION' at worx.com
- LAKA: Get 30 days of FREE insurance with code 'RIDECOMPANION30' at laka.co
- HKT Products: Use code 'PODCAST' for 10% off the entire site.
Follow
Olly Wilkins
Instagram @odub_23
YouTube @owilkins23
The Ride Companion
Instagram @theridecompanion
YouTube @TheRideCompanion
YouTube clips and BTS channel @moreridecompanion
Get official Ride Companion merch, find old episodes and more theridecompanion.co.uk
📝 Contact Us & Business: https://theridecompanion.co.uk/pages/contact
Edited By: Doug Tucker, onlyflightdispatch.com & TRC Media House
#TheRideCompanion #mountainbiking #mtbpodcast
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | painted helmets for Tom Cruise, Henry Caval, stuff like that. It's just, yeah, awesome. |
| 0:06.5 | There's so many helmets behind the scenes that we don't, you know, we... |
| 0:10.5 | Spider-Man? Yeah, Spider-Man, yeah, yeah. Yeah, Superman. Superman? Yeah, Henry Covell, so, yeah. |
| 0:17.4 | And then, yeah, we did one for Tom as well, which is really good. So he had the Maverick design, but all in neutral colours and stuff like that. |
| 0:24.2 | Wow. |
| 0:24.6 | Yeah, we've done quite a bit. |
| 0:30.7 | Today's guest, Tom Fuller, is the co-founder of the UK's leading custom paint and design house, Image Designs Custom, and is a low-key legend in the world of custom helmets and making things look cool. |
| 0:47.3 | If you've ever seen a one-off custom helmet for events like Red Bull Rampage, World Cup Down or Motorcross of Nations, basically anything dripping in style on two wheels. |
| 0:55.0 | Chances are Tom's had a hand in making it. Tom has been quietly shaping the look of action |
| 1:00.7 | sports for years. It's quite long this, isn't it? I like it. I like it. I like it. I feel special. |
| 1:06.3 | Tom's been quietly shaping the look of action sports for years, and today we get to hear how |
| 1:10.4 | it all started, what goes into these one-of-a-kind creations and what it's like turning your passion |
| 1:15.8 | into a business ladies and gentlemen tom fuller oh davy too long thank you no i really liked it |
| 1:23.7 | it's good thanks for coming you're welcome thanks for having me. Lovely part of the world. This, Hazelmere, should I say. And no phone reception, like I said earlier. Fuck all on the way. Ridiculous. Why did that annoy you? Because I was like on Google Maps. Oh, trying to figure out where we were. The days of actually reading maps, they're well gone now. It's all about the Google, so it pisses me off. They're actually so far gone. The thought of it going somewhere with a piece of paper. Yeah. Be all right. You work it out, but when you're actually driving, do you remember printing off like Google Maps? Yeah. Like the... Oh, yeah. |
| 2:01.6 | Hard work. The print offs. |
| 2:02.2 | We had map maps, like you're reading maps, |
| 2:04.0 | and then you're going to go down to Spain, ride your dirt bikes, |
| 2:07.2 | and you had to navigate your way around Madrid and stuff. |
| 2:10.2 | That's when, yeah, but it's all gone now. |
| 2:11.7 | Why would you? |
| 2:12.9 | I feel like I can't do it. |
| 2:16.8 | You know, I... like... What you mean? It's a paper when you couldn't do it. I feel like if it wasn't for Google Maps now, I wouldn't come here. You've been here before. You raised a good point. Yeah, I wouldn't have found it the first time. So I'd never come back. You'd still be lost. Your... My dad wants, right? So we used to go to the motorcross races when I was a young, young lad. We used to travel with this other family. And my dad had always drive. We had a transit. Obviously, the steering column was knackered, so it was like sailing a ship. Yeah. So he was focused on sailing the ship, and our friend would sit in the passenger seat and say, |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from TRC Media House, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of TRC Media House and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.

