True North Supply Co. Lookbook_Spring 2015 by Samantha Grim

PROCESS + LOOKBOOK

TRUE NORTH SUPPLY COMPANY LOOK BOOK 2015 Process Book Volume 1 Research_03 Mood boards _06 Long Form _09 Feature: Angie Tomson _13 Illustrations _19

21_Adventures 25_Feature: Nicole Walsh 31_Photography 35_Production 41_Credits

RESEARCH My name is Samantha Grim and I started True North Supply Co. as part of my capstone project at Cornish College of the Arts. True North Supply Co. started with the idea of making. How could the brand encourage viewers to think about craft, and explore handmade production methods? How could I share what I love and encourage viewers to explore nature? I started by choosing a subject matter that was inspiring: The Pacific Northwest. By choosing an inherently natural subject, my designs would be inspired and cohesive. I tried to find inspiration outside of typical design-trending articles, and looked at writers who had also been inspired by the natural world. Three important reads to this collection were Walden by Henry David Thoreau, News from Nowhere by William Morris and Into the Wild by John Karakauer. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I went into the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived.â&#x20AC;? 3

Walden is the story of Henry David Thoreau immersing himself in nature. He moves to a cabin by Walden Pond, Massachusetts, and attempts to distance himself from the distractions of life in the quickly expanding time of the 1850’s.

Morris publicly spoke about man’s coexistence with nature and how true happiness would be found when there was a balance between technology and the natural world. William, our narrator, returns to his proper time and thinks about how advances in modern technology and society affect the way he lives.

Thoreau talks a lot about simplicity and progress by connecting with nature. He finds that in his two years at Walden Pond “improvements of ages have had but little influence on the essential laws of man’s existence. . .”.

“Go back and be the happier for having seen us, for having added a little hope to your struggle. Go on living while you may, striving, with whatsoever pain and labour needs must be, to build up little by little the new day of fellowship, and rest, and happiness”

I want to speak to this inherent connection to nature, and encourage people to view the outdoors as an uplifting and fun experience. Walden was dense and provided a good jumping off point to delve deeper into my audience and my explorative theme.

Finally, I drew from the famous outdoor story of Christopher McCandless: Into the Wild. While tragic, this story always struck me by showing someone’s absolute passion for the outdoors and simplicity. Chris is a character who can be easily identified with. To me, his decisions to abandon his parent’s expectations of his future and pursue adventure were understandable. He talks a lot about the natural world clearing his head, and offering him perspective he c ould not get in any other way.

Next I dove into News from Nowhere. Notably not as naturalistic, this novel was written by the famous designer and one of the pioneers of the arts and crafts movement. In this novel the narrator, William Guest, wakes up to find himself in a very different society than he fell asleep in. It is an agrarian society, functioning because it’s inhabitants find pleasure in nature.

That resonated with me, and solidified my desire to try to pass that inspiration to others through my work. Chris’ story also served as a warning to be cautious and prepared when exploring. It made me think about how sharing experiences with others is the most fulfilling element of exploration.

Morris strongly believed that all crafts people and workmen should find pleasure in their work which would encourage people to work. This was different from many of his fellow socialist thinkers of the time who believed that work for the state was a necessary evil.

“Happiness only real when shared”

Brand Mood board: January 2015 5

LONG FORM For my BFA project I thought a lot about how I would like to present myself professionally, and about what end result I could produce that I would be proud to exhibit.

a designer. This led me to my goal of creating designs and tangible printed objects that will subtly encourage outdoor activity. These objects may include posters, books, cards, and interactive printed elements which can be sold as a way to support and encourage Pacific Northwest

I consider print making and creating authentic, relevant design to be an important part of my identity as 9

natives to explore the outdoors. The process of making inspires thought, and a strong influence in my life is exploring the outdoors.

viewers that they have the opportunity to explore a rich environment in the outdoors. Design professionals will appreciate the application and cohesive aspects of my designs and brand. Friends and family will be able to purchase prints and other handmade goods to take with them and hopefully encourage exploration.

The project gives me options to explore many different aspects of design, and to incorporate my favorite techniques into its overall assets. I will be able to explore illustration, branding, print making, and marketing as ways to supplement my designs. The process of creating something appeals to a wide audience, and viewers can find something to relate to in each piece. Thinking about design this way encouraged me to view design as more than client work, and that good design c an supplement good ideas.

My project will focus on the idea of making as thinking, introducing a process of thinking about design through the means of production for each piece and project. This view of design will help create more authentic and developed designs as well as an interesting process and discovery. My design choices will be informed by Pacific Northwest related subject matter. Viewers will be able to learn about production and receive take aways that encourage them to discover the outdoors on their own.

Offering my skills as an educated designer to a cause I care about is a strong part of my concept. My show will remind

True North Supply Co. Project Proposal: November 30, 2014 10

ANGIE TOMSON Graphic Designer and Weekend Warrior

Your blog says you are a “perpetual beginner,” I think that’s a really great way to draw people in to your blog. What do you want readers to get out of your blog?

Go ahead and introduce yourself! What do you do professionally, creatively, in your free time? My name is Angie Tomson and during the week I am a Design Director at Graphiti Associates in Seattle, WA. When the weekend hits, I’m usually found out wandering around in the woods or mountains. If I’m at home, I’m either writing or hitting up the climbing gym on rainy days. I love to take pictures and my first love has always been fine art, drawing and painting. Oh, and I love to knit.

I label myself that because I want to try everything and that doesn’t really leave a lot of time to specialize in any one thing. When it comes to being outside and finding adventure, I feel I’m just trying to maximize my time that isn’t sitting at a desk and I feel that a lot of people in the Northwest have that weekend warrior mentality as well. As I was gearing up for

Who is your adventure companion?

trips, I kept searching the interwebs for tips on what to bring backpacking or how to prep and pack food for camping trips, etc. I kept finding that a lot of the blogs out there were either too serious or run by women and men that were professional ski patrol, endurance athletes, or pulling from other sites etc. I felt there was a lack of how it ACTUALLY is and how comical the trial and error of finding adventure can be. I hope that people can get a laugh, gain some insight and possibly get help in getting started to plan trips, hikes, and find the benefits of being outdoors.

I have a core group of around 6 friends that, if there is a trip in the works, someone from that group of 6 is bound to be in, if not all of us. We’ve dubbed ourselves the Patagoonies as we’re just a bunch of fun-loving adventure-seeking goons that don’t take ourselves too seriously. We just like to have fun and be outside! And if on the off chance none of them are available, my puppy Moose is a always a sure thing. Who do you admire? Have you read any books that have really stuck with you?

Do you feel that writing about your adventures helps you record your experiences better? Or is it just a good way to share experiences with people?

I admire a lot of people, but I’ve been really interested in women’s climbing history and find inspiration in all of the women that pioneered first ascents on walls and mountains that scare me silly. There are some amazing women that are getting outside and doing some amazing things. As far as books, I recently read Addicted to Danger and found that a lot of the stories that Jim Wickwire writes have really stuck with me. I find myself floored by the dedication alpine climbers have when trying to get to a prized summit. And as cliche as it sounds, I really enjoyed Wild by Cheryl Strayed.

This is been a surprising perk of starting my blog. Myself, as well as my friends, enjoy getting to re-live some of our trips that we’ve been able to go on together. I’ve heard from a few of my friends that it’s been fun to read how my take on an experience during a trip differed from theirs. I am thankful that I also get to use them as my ‘fact-checkers’ for a lot of my stories as well. I also am thankful that I now have a record and a somewhat organized place to be able to house all of the adventures I’ve been on so far. It’s been fun to get my memories down into words and stories and I find a lot of happiness in sharing it with anyone who is willing to read them.

Any favorite music or trail jams? I don’t really listen to music while hiking as I like the silence and stillness of being outside and away from the city. BUT when around a campfire with friends, there is

Check her out at Campertown & Co or Graphiti Associates in Fremont, WA 14

Favorite trail food?

ALWAYS some room for some jams. I tend to lean toward ‘folk-y’, the Oh Hellos, Dr. Dog, old Lynyrd Skynyrd or classic Willie Nelson.

Easy, Salami, hands down. Weirdest wildlife encounter you’ve ever had on a trip?

What’s the next trip you’re planning?

Well, it didn’t happen to me, but I was there to witness it. The first morning on a backpacking trip in the Enchantments, my friend Alyssa was head butted off a rock by a mountain goat. Luckily she was okay and only walked away with a small, but deep cut and a gnarly bruise. But after that we all learned that goats are not to be trusted…goats are jerks.

Mexico! A little different than the usual hiking, camping and backpacking but I’ll make up for it on my 30th birthday by attempting to bag 3 peaks in a day, each peak for 10 years of age! Top 3 things you can’t live without on a hike or camping trip: Hat, puffy coat, All Good Lips chapstick

Check her out at Campertown & Co or Graphiti Associates in Fremont, WA 15

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ILLUSTRATIONS A lot of providing unique and relatable goods is showcasing the human and handmade element in all products. This means that each illustration comes straight from the mind and hands of a designer or maker.

specific to the Pacific Northwest. The adventure calender also features quick tips for anyone looking to pursue these adventures on their own. Each illustration is created by hand in pencil and ink. Then, they are scanned an digitally edited in preparation for their eventual screen printing. The northwest is best. Thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s so much to see and explore, and I tried to create products to represent the variety of natural beauty that can be experienced in the upper left.

Using outdoor adventures as a starting point, I created illustrations inspired by each location. In the 2015 Adventure Calender illustrations included the Big Four Ice Caves, Haystack Rock, Multnomah Falls, and several other easily accessible hikes and outdoor attractions 19

NICOLE WALSH Forestry Student and Outdoor Enthusiast

Go ahead and introduce yourself! What do you do professionally, creatively, in your free time?

service or a national park in the future. I have a boyfriend named Jake and he and I also collaborated in making a blog to share my photos as well as share our outdoor experiences in the Pacific Northwest!

My name’s Nicole Walsh and I am currently attending Mt. Hood Community College as a student in the Natural Resources Technology (Forestry) program. I also work part time at REI Portland and absolutely love it! During my free time I love to get outside and take photos. I don’t necessarily consider myself a professional photographer, but I hope to one day make some type of career out of it while working for either the forest

Tell us about your blog. What do you want readers to get out of it? Our blog is called Our Pacific Northwest Living simply because we share our outdoor experiences in the Pacific Northwest. We’ve both grown up in the area and share a true passion for it. We truly love where we live and feel fortunate 25

opinion, it so important to have people realize that there are far more beautiful, amazing things out there than there are in a city. Getting outside is just so good for you in so many ways; physically, mentally, and emotionally.

to live so close to so many incredible places. Countless times we’ve had friends ask us what hikes we’ve gone on, how to get there, how many miles they are, the weather conditions, etc. We just thought this would be a great way to give some locals or some future visitors an idea of some awesome places to travel in the area! I still don’t believe we are true professionals or anything, so I thought it’d be a great way to document our growth through every hike or every adventure we go on.

Who is your adventure companion? My adventure companion is my boyfriend Jake, as well my parents, and occasionally our corgi named Pinchot, after Gifford Pinchot National Forest (one of our favorite local places to hike).

Do you feel that writing about your adventures helps you record your experiences better? Or is it just a good way to share experiences with people?

Who do you admire? Have you read any books that have really stuck with you? I truly admire my mom, who has always been a dedicated hiker and backpacker, and is still hiking even with numerous physical health conditions. No matter the type of pain she is in, she still finds a way to get outside because this has always been a passion of hers. I also admire our dear friend Elissa whom we met at University of Oregon in 2011. We randomly met her at a U of O outdoor camping trip she had organized when Jake and I were very inexperienced with the outdoors. She is the person who truly inspired us to get outside. Ever since we went on that camping trip, we haven’t been able to get enough of the outdoors. We can confidently say that she has played a key role in getting Jake and I to where we are today.

I think it’s a little bit of both. We’ve already learned so much with every hike we’ve gone on and I know we will learn so much more. Recording my experiences makes me think about what we should do next time, if we should try a different route, go during a different season, or leave a little earlier. It’s really made me become a savvy hiker, and makes me think about ways I can improve myself as well as my experiences. I also love sharing my experiences with people not only to get my photos out there, but also to inspire others to get outside as well. Jake and I always talk about how there’s rarely anyone our age who’s willing to go outside rather than hanging out in a bar. It’s been difficult trying to find people in their early twenties who love being outside just as much as we do. In my

Check her out at Our Pacific Northwest Living or REI Portland 26

211 miles starting at Yosemite Valley, and ends at Mt. Whitney, which is the highest summit in the contiguous United States. This is definitely going to be the most difficult adventure yet, but I am so excited! We are leaving September 3rd and will be gone for 25 days... Just enough time for us to get back and start our next school year!

I’m honestly not much of a reader, but a book that has really stuck with me is Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer. That book is inspiring to me in so many ways and it really makes you think about what you should value in life. Any favorite music or trail jams? I love love love Future Islands, Of Monsters and Men, and Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeroes. I don’t think I’ve ever driven to a trail without listening to any of those bands!

Top 3 things you can’t live without on a hike or camping trip: I always have to take my camera. Even on backpacking trips when I’m carrying a ton of weight, I have to have my heavy camera strung around my neck. One of the main reason why I love getting outside is so I can document and share all these beautiful places I’ve been to! My camera has always been the sacrifice I’m willing to take when I am packing things for a trip. I also cannot live without my Arc’teryx waterproof jacket. It is undoubtedly the best jacket I have ever owned, and it has done wonders for me in this Pacific Northwest weather! Finally,

What’s the next trip you’re planning? The next trip Jake and I are planning is going to be our first long-distance trail called the John Muir Trail that runs through the Sierra Nevada mountain range in California. It’s undoubtedly one of the most popular long-distance trails in the country and people all over the world fight to get the permits to go. Jake and I were extremely fortunate in obtaining a permit this year! It’s approximately

Jake and I almost decided to do the same, but I knew this trip would be good for me. The day before Jake and I were supposed to leave, my plane landed very late that night and Jake and I were planning on leaving at 3am the following day since we had to drive 5 hours and then hike 9 miles to our first camping site. In any case, we had maybe an hour of sleep because we were up all night packing and organizing our things. By the time we got to the trail head, we were exhausted. When we started hiking, we were so tired we thought we kept seeing bears in trees and shrubs when really there wasn’t anything there at all! Finally, when we stopped for a little break just a few miles in and were trying to regroup after we thought we had seen a bear for about the third or fourth time, an actual black bear walked right passed us on the trail just about ten feet in front of us! We had to reassure ourselves that this time it was actually real, and we were not hallucinating. I think after that experience, we managed to be a little more alert for the rest of the hike that day.

I cannot live without my hiking boots. From saving me from twisted ankles, slippery trails, and keeping me dry with their waterproof material, I can confidently say that I cannot go on a hike without them! Favorite trail food? Clif Shot Bloks! They are amazing. They have helped me immensely on hiking and backpacking trips because they truly give you lots of energy. They really help you go that extra mile. Weirdest wildlife encounter you’ve ever had on a trip? I think the weirdest wildlife encounter was when Jake and I went backpacking in the Hoh Rainforest in Olympic National Park. We had been planning this trip with my parents for months, but right before our trip my grandpa passed away. My family and I had to fly to Chicago days before our trip and my parents decided that it was best to not join us under these unfortunate circumstances.

Check her out at Our Pacific Northwest Living or REI Portland 28

PHOTOGRAPHY True North Supply Co. is a project that is intended to join the visual culture of the young professionals who pursue adventure.

important to me that the photos felt real and in the moment.

Part of encouraging and stimulating the True North brand is photography. I decided to take photos on my outings, and actively try to improve my photography so it could be included in this brand.

My goal is to provide beautiful and adventurous photography to inspire creative people. I want to encourage everyone to be outdoors and do something that allows them to fully enjoy the natural world that is so close by.

This was a true collaboration, as my boyfriend David taught me the ins and outs of digital photography. In the end, I chose photos that feature rich content and offered real life perspective. It was

I also included photos from fellow adventurous folks. Included with their interviews these photos feel heartfelt, and give readers a peek into the lives of these nature loving people. 31

PRODUCTION True North Supply Co.â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s goal is to provide goods based in the tradition of craft to encourage the do-it-yourself mind set that our audience values. We encourage the process of making as thinking .

design process. Anyone can appreciate the tactile aspects of well crafted goods, and this appreciation can spark educated conversations about design and art. For this collection most of the goods were produced using hand pulled screens and custom French Paper Co. paper. Small hits of letterpress and perforation were also done by hand to enhance some pieces. The book itself was printed using a digital offset printer, creating a tactile quality to the ink while still achieving quick and efficient production.

This idea is about allowing designers to view their work through the means of production. By seeing their work through ideation all the way to final production I believe an appreciation for the human hand in design is clearer. Viewers also have a place to jump into the 36

TRUE NORTH SUPPLY COMPANY LOOK BOOK Photography Credits + Thank You David Nelson:

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Angela Tomson:

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Nicole Walsh:

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Thank you to all the contributors to this book, your photography and inspiring stories made this truly represent my brand and vision for True North Supply Co. Special thanks to Sara McNally (my mentor), David Nelson, and my parents for all of their support!