Concept

For Type Hike co-founder, David Rygiol, trail runs were a pivotal part of life growing up in Northern California. At the end of a new trail, he unfolded a worn map and retraced his path with a red marker.  

Redlining is a hiking term for those who are daring enough to explore every trail in a given area. The map becomes a web of red adventures, some retraced over and over again. The marks become memories, letters between the great wilderness and the men and women who can never get enough of them.  

This biannual publication will explore the confluence of typography and nature. It is an opportunity to extend our hike, slow it down and have a longer look around. Afterall, typography is little more than lines coming together to let someone know where you’re headed or where you’ve been.

Audience

This publication is for the hiker who ventures into unknown wilderness with only a pack on their back. It is for the kids who spend days searching for animal tracks to earn their Junior Ranger badge. It is for the student hard at work who looks with longing out the lab window at the hills on the horizon. It is for the city dwellers, the country folk and everyone in between. Nature does not discriminate. It is our oldest human experience - to look at the world and stand in awe. Type Hike is a success because people love to be inspired by the wonder of the outdoors. It curates a conversation between those who may seem different but have so much in common. 

Fans of Type Hike are loyal and eager for more. 80% of our web traffic is direct or from google, proving that word of mouth is our biggest asset. This publication will stimulate more conversation and give fans abundant opportunities to share Type Hike with friends. In time it will become a tool to achieve financial stability and fund more ambitious projects.

PRODUCTION

A subscription will deliver two issues each year, tentatively in May and September. 

The publication will be smaller than a standard magazine size - approximately 5.5" x 8.5" - to encourage portability. We want people to take it out into the world and get it muddy before bringing it back to the coffee table.

ISSUE 1 OUTLINE: FALL 2017

• Contents (2 pages)
• Intro letter: Welcome to Redline (2 pages - David)
• Exhibit: Animals (26 pages - Designers)
• Feature: Type Hike Year 1 Retrospective (6 pages - Nina)
• Redesigned trail map of a park (2 pages - David & Jim)
• Photo essay: on a location in nature (6 pages - Kyle Frost)
• Sponsored Gear Expedition (4 pages - Poler)
• Ranger Wisdom / Survival Tip (1 page - Park Ranger)
• Article or exercise about typography (2 pages - Jim)
• Article about Chemayeff and Geismar’s triangle’s and cannonballs design (2 pages - Zac)
• Sketch pages (11 pages)

Approximately 64 pages + Cover

Content ideas

Themes:

• The Intersection of design and the outdoors - how they work together for the better
• Beauty - celebrating beauty in type and nature.
• Diversity - of individuals - of the landscape.

Brainstorm:

• Exhibition designs with more designer/park info.
• Photo expeditions of specific hikes or locations
• Ranger interviews
• Trail Guides or favorite hikes
• Typography articles by designers
• Equipment reviews - sponsored articles by outdoor brands
• Survival skills
• History of design in the NPS - signage, branding, advertising...
• Essays or poems about the outdoors
• Ads from tightly curated brands
• Interviews with woodsy people
• Pages to sketch - blank, dot grid, isometric grid, graph, etc.
• Redesigned maps of trails or parks

Style:

Redline will continue the diversity of style that made the first series so successful. It will represent the best our country has to offer - from student to master - from all walks of life and from every corner of the continent.