Goal: Steward the Adventure Cyclist magazine brand and visual content

Role: art direction, layout and editorial design, redesign, spot illustration, spot photography, occasional writing and editing

Relationship: I was full-time Art Director from 2017–2024.

Opening Spreads

The bread and butter of the feature well — the pages that pull readers in and capture the essence of a story

Redesigning Adventure Cyclist (2022)

To celebrate the 50th volume of Adventure Cyclist, I led a full redesign for the brand in 2022, and launched the new format in January 2023 (we had a big party with our community to celebrate.) During this project, I worked closely with the editorial team to define an editorial mission and visual direction for the brand that emphasizes a rich legacy of mapmaking and that welcomes a younger, more diverse audience with open arms.

After conducting a thorough discovery phase, I created an identity system heavily influenced by vintage cycling maps with plenty of design easter eggs for long-time readers and friendly elements for new ones. I contracted designer/cyclist Bobby Dixon to design the new logo system and worked with illustrator/cyclist Noël Kalmus to make custom portrait illustrations of recurring contributors. One goal was to strip away all of the clutter that had built up over the years and create a streamlined template that was fun, cohesive, innovative, and encourages the reader to engage in creative problem-solving while being inspired. The result is an approachable, clean design system that propels the brand forward while continuing to honor its heritage.

Art Direction: How’d Ya Get That Shot?

With a goal to attract more, better photo submissions to the Adventure Cyclist annual photo contest, I concepted a feature-length guide for carrying cameras on bicycles while bikepacking. The first gear guide of this kind for this publication, I surveyed photographers in my network to see what gear they liked, scouted unique products, and put together a package that would run as four spreads in the annual photo issue.

The goal was to balance traditional gear reviews with beginner-focused photography guidelines to help readers feel more confident capturing their travels. I contracted local photographer and cyclist Dan Stone to tag team this project to include a second voice and set of opinions. In all, we collected over 30 pieces of gear to test over the course of a year. I wore several hats during this project: art director, gear tester, writer, and photographer.

A fun feature of this package is the last page, which I designed to be cut out of the magazine and folded into an 8-page booklet. It’s meant to serve as a field guide for photographers and includes tips on lighting, lenses, storytelling, and a visual guide for the “exposure triangle” on the back.

“This article — daaaaaamn. It’s so good! Explains things way better than I’ve ever been able to because I can’t turn my brain back to basic mode vs. 15-years-experience mode. And the printable fold-up guide is A+++.”
– Erik, bicycle traveler and photographer