Getting in touch with my inner-graphic design history geek...

I'm back from the Tetons and Yellowstone -- what a relaxing and beautiful trip it was! My boyfriend and I hiked a total of around 20 miles, took tons of photos (I will post some soon!), cooked yummy campfire food (including s'mores, of course), saw lots of wildlife (elk, deer, moose, bison, osprey, and grizzly bears), slept in a rainstorm in a tent on the ground (fun, actually - if you haven't done it you need to!), went to two micro-breweries, went white water rafting, and just enjoyed being away.

Anyway, I have much more I could say, but I'll post some photos later that will hopefully tell most of the story. One thing I didn't think I would think about while gone was design -- but as we creatives always do, we observe and absorb and take notice of visually compelling things. I noticed these vintage posters on notecards while in a gift shop near Old Faithful in Yellowstone.

On the back of the box of notecards was the following story, which definitely appealed to my inner-graphic design history geek.

"Between 1935 and 1943 the WPA's (Works Progress Administration) Federal Art Project printed over two million posters in 35,000 different designs to stir the public's imagination for education, theatre, health, safety, and travel to America's national parks. Due to their fragile nature only a few of these images have survived to this day. In 1993, Doug Leen, artist, found and began to restore many of the images from black and white photos. Today you can enjoy his stylish, nostalgic recreations that recall a bygone era of long summer road trips and grand western scenery." My trip can be completely summed up in that last sentence.

For more information on the WPA Federal Art Project, Doug Leen, or to order posters or notecards, visit http://www.rangerdoug.com/

Trip photos coming soon!