The Outdoor Archive: The Ultimate Collection of Adventure & Sporting Graphics, Illustrations and Gear...

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Clint Pumphrey Chris Burkard

The Outdoor Archive

The Ultimate Collection of Adventure & Sporting Graphics, Illustrations and Gear

Clint Pumphrey, Chris Burkard, Chase Anderson , Nur Abbas

$100

Hardback

Forthcoming
Pre-Order now

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English

Thames & Hudson Ltd
17 June 2025

Illustration & commercial art; Active outdoor pursuits

A compelling presentation of outdoors magazines and catalogue covers taken from the archives and featuring seventy brands including Salomon and The North Face.

For decades, outdoor brands have put daring and aspirational images on the covers of their magazines and catalogues, pushing the limits of photography and graphic design. This fascinating collection of outdoors covers, drawn from the Outdoor Recreation Archive at Utah State University and spanning one hundred years, features seventy iconic outfits including Columbia, The North Face and Snow Peak. Together, they make up a stunning visual sequence that traverses generations, sports, styles and continents, and holds something for creatives of all persuasions.

The images, from grainy climbing photographs to homely illustrations of happy campers and cinematic landscapes, are organized artfully by medium - from nature (outdoors photography) to processed (treated photography), remixed (collage) to lines (illustration), object (product photography) to words (typography). Lead-in texts provide an overview of the scope and creative opportunities afforded by each medium, while interspersed throughout are a series of pieces written by guest contributors. Specially commissioned, these personal reflections - by more than twenty industry leaders, designers, creatives and sportspeople, including photographer Chris Burkard, designer Jeff Staple and climber Conrad Anker - home in on a particular image and explore what it means to them. Four 8-page inserts, meanwhile, printed on a different paper stock, reveal a selection of fascinating pages from inside the catalogues. A concluding 'Making Of' section gives a behind-the-scenes look inside the archive, while a visual index provides a fresh way of viewing the images and further inspiration for designers and other creatives.

Carefully crafted, with an unfurling sequence of varied and impactful covers from across several decades, The Outdoor Archive is an enviable resource for graphic designers and creative studios, and a covetable item in its own right.

By: Clint Pumphrey, Chase Anderson
Foreword by: Chris Burkard
Contributions by: Nur Abbas, Yoon Ahn
Imprint: Thames & Hudson Ltd
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 280mm, Width: 215mm,
ISBN: 9780500025994
ISBN 10: 0500025991
Pages: 384
Publication Date: 17 June 2025
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Forthcoming

Chase Anderson is Industry Relations Manager in Outdoor Product Design & Development at Utah State University. Clint Pumphrey is Archives Manuscript Curator at Utah State University. Chris Burkard is an award-winning photographer, creative director, explorer and author. He has worked with companies including The North Face, Patagonia, National Geographic and the BBC.

Reviews for The Outdoor Archive: The Ultimate Collection of Adventure & Sporting Graphics, Illustrations and Gear

A deep dive into the print advertising history of brands from Arc'Teryx to Snow Peak . . . Spotlights some of the [Outdoor Recreation Archive] collection's best imagery and design from over 70 brands.-- ""Hypebeast"" (3/4/2025 12:00:00 AM)