Working with Terri Laine, Patagonia’s Brand Archivist, I designed two large vinyl graphics to be displayed indefinitely in the Chouinard Equipment history room at the Patagonia Archive in Ventura, CA. Assisting with the environmental design of the space, this display focuses on Chouinard’s and Patagonia’s long history of clean climbing and environmental care, each displaying an essay about clean climbing from the Chouinard Equipment 1973 catalog.

The simple color palette and type & image choices are directly inspired by the Chouinard Catalog’s 1970s aesthetic. The essay titles were digitally traced directly from scans of the catalog to retain the most authentic experience.

Both displays contain scanned images of original technical drawings of the tools used to climb clean. “The Whole Natural Art of Protection” essay focuses on using hexes for protection while climbing so I included the images and figures explaining hex sizes and use from various Chouinard publications from the 1970s.