Inspired By Alaska
By Trent Johnson
Nature inspires me in a big way. Say what you will about the architectural and artistic endeavors of mankind, but in my mind the sculptural formations carved out by the earth dwarf mans efforts on a scale of grandeur.
In addition, as I shared in a recent baker post, travel is far and away my favorite way to find inspiration. There’s just something about finding yourself in a new place, outside of your usual habitat, that opens ones eyes and mind, shedding light to the infinite possibilities that bely this world.
It should come as no surprise then that on a recent trek to Alaska I found myself thoroughly inspired by both the unfamiliar environment and the bountiful abundance of natural beauty which got me to thinking – if I were going to create a brand based on the concept of Alaska, what might that look like? What kinds of colors would stand out to me as being uniquely Alaskan? What fonts might best encapsulate the impressions that I had taken away from this beautiful land? What follows are just a few quick type and color studies of where I think I would be naturally inclined to start.
THE KENAI PENINSULA
Naturally, my first impression upon landing in Alaska was “look at all of these gorgeous mountains!” They were endless, and as is often the case, the the first thing to stand out becomes the perfect jumping off point for any visual study. As we made our way down the coast of the Kenai Peninsula this scenic overlook provided the ideal image of the quintessential Alaska — mountains, lake and forest. The color palette draws from nature and the typesetting is understated to allow the true visual heroes their due.
ALASKAN SUMMER HOURS
Having never experienced Alaska prior to this trip, I had been warned thoroughly about the amount of daylight that I would be exposed to… what I was not warned about were the spectacular colors that emblazon the mountains as dusk slowly approaches. Again the type sits a distant second to the natural beauty of the color palette mother nature provides.
EVERYTHING’S BIGGER
Obviously Alaska is huge and it’s mountains are some of the tallest in North America. What surprised me, however, was how much bigger Alaska is. Apparently there is a running joke in Alaska that poor “little” Texas isn’t even the 2nd largest state in the U.S. because if you were to divide Alaska in half both pieces would still be larger than the whole of Texas. With that in mind, this warm, sunny valley, basking at the base of these ascending mountain giants provides a fabulous natural color palette where the toughness of slab stencil typography can provide stalwart, editorial comment without feeling overwhelmingly powerful.
GEOMETRY
What can I say, as a graphic designer it’s hard not to take the triangular geometry of everything Alaskan and have a little fun with it.
FJORDS
These things are awesome. From a nature lover’s standpoint fjords are a testament to the power of the earth, not of man. From a typography lover’s vantage it’s one of the very, very few instances where we get to set the mythical and underrated “fj” ligature. Due to the fact that fjords are natural scars carved out as glaciers pass on by, it seemed only right to seek out the distinctly jagged letterforms found in Ludwig Übele’s Mokka font and pair them with a moody color palette and a masculine counterpart like Process Type’s Klavika.
THE MOUNTAINS + DENALI
As the “Highpoint of North America” I found it necessary to take a couple runs at the mountain that I admire so dearly. Perhaps the argument could be made that of the 2 studies, 1 caters more closely to the conventional male psyche and 1 to a more feminine color palette, and therefore the two make excellent counterparts to one another. Not originally my intention, but I’ll take it. Typographically speaking I found it hard to resist choosing this perfectly suited pair of fonts based on their names alone even though the merits of each are well deserving. H&FJ’s Ideal Sans pairs incredibly well with another font by designer Ludwig Übele, the aptly named ‘Tundra,’ as an overlay of Denali’s topographic map provides an interesting graphic texture.
SALMON
During my time in Alaska I was fortunate enough to spend a day in Seward. I was there for a fjord tour, but a ton of fishermen were there for a wholly different experience. They were catching all kinds of Alaskan halibut, 5 types of salmon, an ancient fish they called “poor man’s lobster” and a plethora of other fish I don’t know what to call. As the fishermen returned, photographed their trophies and began cleaning the fish, I was stunned again by nature’s vibrant color palette. The rich, warm pinky-orange interiors of these silvery-blue scaly creatures was astonishing. Typographically I’ve always felt the font Parango by Xavier Dupré has a nice, chunky old-world-markety feel and to mix that with an artist inspired, hand-lettering font like Gauguin gives a richly authentic feel to a piece.
NUMBER 49
As is probably evident by now, I have become quite the fan of the state of Alaska. In my mind it’s somewhat of a national and natural treasure – one filled with it’s own lot of natural wonders and treasures. On that note it seemed only appropriate to close out these studies by doing one that payed homage to the natural resources that America managed to purchase from the Russians in 1867 for a mere 2 cents per acre and officially grant statehood to in 1951. Warm, oily black and gold tones paired with fonts from the incredible House Industries’ Luxury collection… seems fitting.
Thanks for the read.
