NOLS is the National Outdoor Leadership School, an institution teaching leadership skills in the outdoors, and fostering stewardship of natural resources in students.
One of NOLS' top performing blog posts had outdated photographs throughout, which the writing and web teams wanted updated with newer illustrations. I created the following images to match the brand's characteristic "field note" style.
The project included a header image, three section header images, and a supporting graphic.
For this project, while the meals being described by the article need to be small and easy to carry, I illustrated the more traditional ingredients in much larger format than you would actually take backpacking. This was an intentional decision that allowed me to illustrate the core ingredients discussed in each section in an immediately recognizable way. For instance, I illustrated bottles of sauce as opposed to a pile of dried sauce packets. This decision also allowed the drawings to convey a sense of ease and comfort associated with home cooking, showing how the task of planning backpacking meals (potentially an intimidating project) is something that anyone can tackle.
Header image for the blog post
Grains header illustration
Proteins header illustration
Condiments header illustration
Supporting illustration of completed backpacking meal
