MERCHANDISING

Keep Oregon Wild

OREGON WILD

Oregon Wild works to protect and restore Oregon’s wildlands, wildlife, and waters as an enduring legacy for future generations.

I illustrated and designed this bandana for Oregon Wild to gift to members of their 30 Year Donor Club. Each corner features an animal that Oregon Wild has campaigned to help, surrounded by iconic Oregon flora from their habitat. The center features a quote from Andy Kerr, framed by an abstracted Oregon scene: a Coho salmon run on the bottom and the triangular peak of Mount Hood on the top, with a Ponderosa and a Doug fir on either side.

This project was sponsored by Patagonia.

The Project

To celebrate the organization’s 50th anniversary, Oregon Wild planned to mail a bandana to their donors of 30 or more years.

Oregon Wild wanted a bandana design that:

  • Showcased their new logo and branding

  • Celebrated and represented their history

  • Would appeal to their long-term donors (mature, dedicated environmentalists & outdoorspeople, who would hopefully use this bandana regularly)

  • Presented wildlife respectfully, & did not reduce animals to “cutesy” or “cartoony” illustrations

My Approach

Since bandanas are often worn folded, I prioritized the design of the corners. With different flora and fauna on each corner, donors can choose their favorite to show. (Each corner also features a small Oregon Wild logo, so the new branding is always visible.)

I stuck to a more realistic, hand-drawn style over a bolder, graphic one— to present the wildlife in a way that feels more like a nature sketch and less like a digitally-created graphic.

The “nature sketch” style meant that it could be illustrated in one color and printed with one screen. I wanted to minimize the “crunch factor” that some heavier screen prints can have— so Donor Club Members could start wearing and using their bandanas right away.