Backcountry.com <br> — <br> Case Study

Backcountry.com is an online specialty retailer that sells clothing and outdoor recreation gear. We consulted/art directed with the creative team for over 8 years on just about everything you can imagine, including their umbrella of sub-brands: Steep & Cheap, Competitive Cyclist, Whiskey Militia, Chainlove, Department of Goods, HuckNRoll, and BonkTown.

Project roles:

Brand identity
Art direction
Website
Catalogs
Email campaigns
Online banner campaigns

Hangtags
Landing pages
Clothing
Stickers
Posters
Woven labels

Backcountry.com

Trucker / Flat fitted hat – BC badge design (concept)

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T-shirts – Anti-outdoor design (concept)

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T-shirt – Outsiders wanted (concept)

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T-shirt – Send it

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T-shirt – Mountain Goats

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2009 Catalog

This catalog was quite a departure from the previous versions sent out by Backcountry.com twice a year. This was known as the anti-catalog, and there were plenty of internal upper management that were not happy about it.

"A catalog with no product, that's a big mistake". But wait...

Instead of the typical product-filled catalog, this was a branding piece focused on the online community they were massively building with their customer base. It shared short stories in a magazine-style format of their personal adventures, subtly highlighting the gear they used and why it was important.

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Beater T-shirt / Ad campaign

This is one of the few print ads Backcountry.com ever ran. It was concepted around the newly designed "Beater" shirt. Which is quite the oxymoron considering the athletes is the ad are some of the best skiers in the world.

“Beater: A term used at Utah ski areas (Alta, Snowbird) to describe a tourist of inferior skiing ability. This noun was coined due to the distinctive sound made by a skier, tangled in their own equipment, tumbling down a steep ski slope.” – Urban Dictionary

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Exclusive Brands campaign

This campaign highlights new global brands, available online (in the US only) via Backcountry.com. This logo appeared as an icon on all the product images, which would be deemed as an Exclusive Brands callout.

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Poster series

This poster series was created to highlight some of the athletes on the Backcountry.com Pro Team. These were given out at events, where the athletes were usually there to sign the posters for fans.

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A Foreign Affair campaign

This campaign highlights new global brands, available online (in the US only) via Backcountry.com. I was involved with art directing the photo shoot, along with photo editor, Re Wikstrom. We selected all the product and positioned it flat on the floor of the studio, while Re was 15' up on a scaffold taking photos until we got it just right.

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Email and online banner campaigns

This is how Backcountry.com does a huge portion of their marketing: Emails and online banner campaigns. Smart concepts paired with the right photo and design, with the end goal of conversion in mind.

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Letterpress prints

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Powder Huffer T-shirt

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Avalauncher T-shirt

The concept of this shirt is based on an avalauncher. For the skiers in Little Cottonwood Canyon (Alta/Snowbird) this tool is what keeps avalanche mitigation down to a minimum. The loud explosions you hear before the resort opens, is probably this tool being fired off to purposely set off avalanches in bounds.

What is an avalauncher? A compressed-nitrogen cannon that fires an explosive projectile. Avalaunchers are typically mounted on towers, with preset gas pressure and target coordinates, which means they can be fired accurately in whiteout conditions.

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