Cordillera Co.
Proposed Industry: Consumer Goods
Scope: Brand identity and Web Design
Overview: Class Project.
For all your outdoor gear needs, there’s Cordillera Co.
For an online & brick-and-mortar retailer who has roots in Anchorage, Alaska & Central Mexico, Cordillera needed an internal-facing microsite created for their 2022 company profile.
Final Works
Solutions: I kept the design simple by using a 3-color palette (inspired by the Alaskan outdoors and the National Park Service), thick lines, rounded & angled design elements, a newspapery 2-column layout, and infographic icons. Put it all together and you have a campy, parky, outdoor brand.
My Process
Insight: Before this project, I had just gotten back from Alaska, and I was able to draw inspiration from my recent travels. During my trip I visited an old salmon cannery, and, on the wall of the store-room were a fifty different salmon tin labels. One caught my eye (right) because of its thick lines, rounded elements, and bold type.
In the end, this influenced the entire visual design of the microsite. Also, during my research and mood-boarding ideation process I discovered old newspaper articles from the Alaskan Klondyke gold rush and found the same expressively bold typography there as I was seeing on the tin label.
Approach: Now armed with key words, typography, layout, & graphic element inspiration. The dire nature of the Alaskan wilds doesn’t scream “happy-fun-let’s-buy-something”, so I came up with an activity that gold-panners did and added a “y” to it and decided to go campy.
Exercises & Ideation: The typography I was inspired by early on wasn’t singing in practice, but I stuck with the bolded concept and tried out fonts that were more expressive and contemporary.
