Sierra Designs 1969 Catalogue Cover

In the case of Sierra Designs and their 1969/70 magazine cover where the human and respective gear become the same silhouette, as if a part, of nature. Beautiful and simple in its design the cover perpetuates biases that still exist today. Even from the simple colors, the subject of the poster is a white man. A common theme of the outdoors. The following covers from 1971 and onward follow similar themes too. Our attempt as humans to control nature through juxtaposing people, or man-made objects, with nature and our inability to control it. The iconography of nature and outdoor recreation stems from the concept of the sublime seen in transcendentalist work, and goes back even further to Alexander Humboldt and his original theories of the Naturgemalde. The now recognized interconnectedness of flora and fauna seen all over the world. Even though the themes surrounding Sierra Design’s magazine cover remain largely unchanged, our relationship to nature has. As we push the limits of what our bodies can do, aided through the material and technological improvements in our gear, we still remain small in the grand scheme of our world.

From the moment we as humans had to stop worrying about shelter and knowing where we would be safe nature turned into a commodity. In the form of Intrepid explorers convincing sponsors to go on expeditions, or simply spending a day hiking a local mountain. Though in order to go out into the untamed world requires equipment. However, there is a paradox in the outdoors. Stepping foot onto free and public lands can require a significant investment in the right gear. The graphic design of these companies perpetuates this trick by surrounding their gear with the beauty of our natural world constantly showing our small scale to Earth. In relation to other graphic design, understanding the design of how we explore is a mirror to how we view and care for nature.