Oregon's Backyard
The goal of this project was to set up and produce a fully-printed, saddle stitch book on a local topic of our choice. My book, Oregon's Backyard, offers an anecdotal guide to hiking in the Pacific Northwest.
Deliverables included a physical copy of the produced book.
Process
With the theme being a local topic, I knew early on in this process that I wanted to create a hiking book. I was inspired by my love for the outdoors and retro field guides of the 70s and 80s; like the ones my family owned when I was growing up.
In my book, I set out to ask and answer some key questions for hikers and backpackers in Oregon: What is backpacking, why backpacking as a choice for recreation, what gear would I need for hiking/backpacking, and what does Oregon have to offer in terms of hiking and backpacking?
I decided I would split the book into four parts. Starting with an intro and background section, I would introduce the reader to hiking and backpacking, and what gear they would need, before delving into three different levels of outings: Day trips, Overnight trips and "Long Hauls," or week long trips. Each hike featured in these sections is a hike that I have personally completed and documented with my own photography.
Initial Layout Sketches
"Overnighter" Page Layout Digital Sketch
"Long Haul" Page Layout Digital Sketch
After putting a rough layout idea together, it was time to assemble my content. I wrote up descriptions and compiled photography from all of my relevant trips, and plotted out their relevant maps in a free map-building software online, as a visual aide for the articles. The final step was to print and assemble the book.
