Treelines: Issue 02 – "Stick Season"

Hello Friends,

It's stick season, which means I'm waxing my skis and compulsively checking weather apps. I was glad to see a few ski mountains in my neck of the woods opened last weekend; and if the forecast holds, we could be in for a good ol’ fashioned Thanksgiving snow storm. So start flushing ice cubes down the toilet, wearing your pajamas inside out, or whatever you do to make the white stuff fall. In the meantime, here's a roundup of some recent projects I've been working on:

Tree Juice

 Back in May, I partnered with UnTapped Maple to design a product catalog and two custom water bottles for the Vermont-based company. UnTapped produces maple gels and waffles for performance athletes who rely on all-natural fuel to compete in endurance races; and for weekend warriors like me, who like a packable, oh-so-delicious snack to give me a boost of energy while skiing, hiking, or biking.

The product catalog includes pricing and spec charts, wholesale information, and more. The water bottles were inspired by two UnTapped team athletes—Ted King and Ian Boswell—legends in their sport of cycling and who both had input in the final designs.

It was fun work and the team at UnTapped couldn’t’ have been easier to work with. Try their products—you won’t regret it!

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Connections

The Fall 2024 edition of Empire State University's Connections Alumni magazine

I just wrapped my first project with Empire State University, SUNY’s leading online university. I designed the fall edition of its alumni magazine, Connections, featuring bulletin items, academic updates, and profiles about faculty and alumni. One is a Q&A with Norma Jean McVey, an ESU alumna who starred alongside Leonardo DiCaprio in Martin Scorcese’s recent film, Killers of the Flower Moon.

Read the Fall issue of Connections here.

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Apres Drip

It’s officially sweater weather, and Mountain Gazette has you covered for your upcoming holiday parties and apres ski hangs. Keep an eye out for the new apres sweater, designed by your truly, in the MG shop soon. (Updated: You can buy it here).

It has just the right balance of retro rad-ness with a sprinkle of Christmas charm. "It's a real nice surprise, Clark."

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A Personal Touch

I'm a big fan of things that are printed. I’m also a fan of sending written correspondence. So, I've created a set of six holiday themed greeting cards that you can preorder on my website now! If you're interested in purchasing one as a poster print, shoot me an email.

That's all I've got for now. Have a great Thanksgiving and pray for snow!

Thanksgiving 2024 Playlist

2024, so far, has been a year of growth and some hard lessons in running a small business. One thing's for certain: I couldn't have gotten this far without the support and encouragement of friends and clients. As a humble sign of my appreciation, I've put together a playlist to enjoy, wherever your travels take you. Some songs are chill, some will make you want to get up and dance some of that stuffing off. I recommend listening in order for greatest effect, but hey–who am I to tell you how to listen.

Wix won't let me add the Spotify player to this post, but here's a LINK to the playlist.

Enjoy, be safe, and Happy Thanksgiving.

John

Treelines: Issue 01 - October 2024

Hello Friends,

Fall is here and there’s a crispness to the air that reminds us that winter isn’t far off. It’s a great time of year here in the Northeast and a good time to stop and reflect on a busy summer. Here's a little update on what I've been up to:  

The cover of Mountain Gazette 202 was hand-painted by acclaimed cartoonist/illustrator Harry Bliss, whose work appears regularly on the cover of New Yorker. Harry also illustrated a cartoon in issue 202 written by actor/musician Steve Martin.

Mountain Gazette 202 is hitting mailboxes across the country and beyond. It’s the ninth issue I've worked on since the magazine relaunched in the fall of 2020 and the response from readers and the press has been amazing. We’re hovering around 30,000 subscribers currently … a number we didn’t think we’d reach for some time. It's been an exciting ride thus far and I'm proud of the mag and the success we've had. Long live print!

For the second year in a row, I created T-shirt artwork for Ski The East, a ski/lifestyle brand I’ve been a fan of for a long time and one of the clients I had on my wishlist when I started freelancing two years ago. Four new tees with my designs are dropping this holiday season. My designs from last year— "Small Mountain Tee", "Keep the Shred Alive"(pictured above), and "First Chair Last Call"— are still for sale on their website.

One of my newer clients is Protect Our Winters, a non-profit dedicated to raising awareness about the impact of climate change on the snow sports industry and protecting the outdoor places we love. I recently joined POW’s Creative Alliance, which is a team of artists, filmmakers and storytellers from around the country. Last month, I created a series of posters and digital ads to promote their “Stoke the Vote” initiative and film tour during a crucial election year. Please get out and vote on November 5th!

This August, I designed a limited-edition poster for the Lake George Land Conservancy, a non-profit whose mission is to "permanently protect the land that protects Lake George." Proceeds will go toward rebuilding the iconic gazebo at Schumann Preserve at Pilot Knob. It's one of my favorite local hikes so it was a true labor of love to work on this poster. You can make a donation to the gazebo rebuild and purchase the poster and stickers here.

Lastly, the holidays are right around the corner and I wanted to remind you that I'm available for commissions. So if you want to get a one-of-a-kind gift for someone special in your life this year, I create custom portraits, wall art, stickers, T-shirts, and more. I’ll also have some new products in my shop before the holidays and will share links ASAP.

That’s it for now. I hope you'll stick around for more of these updates and please forward to a friend. Enjoy the season ahead!

– John