Thames & Hudson - The Outdoor Archive: Actual Source Edition

For decades, outdoor brands have put daring and aspirational images on the covers of their magazines and catalogs, pushing the limits of photography and graphic design. This fascinating collection of outdoors covers, drawn from the Outdoor Recreation Archive at Utah State University and spanning one hundred years, features seventy iconic brands including Columbia, The North Face, and Snow Peak. Together, they make up a stunning visual sequence that traverses generations, sports, styles, and continents, and holds something for creatives of all persuasions. 

The images, from grainy climbing photographs to homely illustrations of happy campers and cinematic landscapes, are organized artfully by medium—from outdoors to processed photography, collage to illustration, product photography to typography. Lead-in texts provide an overview of the scope and creative opportunities afforded by each medium, while interspersed throughout are pieces written by guest contributors. Specially commissioned, these personal reflections—by more than twenty industry leaders, designers, creatives, and sportspeople, including photographer Chris Burkard, designer Jeff Staple, and climber Conrad Anker—hone in on a particular image and explore what it means to them. Four eight-page inserts, meanwhile, printed on a different paper stock, reveal a selection of fascinating pages from inside the catalogs. 

Carefully crafted, with an unfurling sequence of varied and impactful covers, The Outdoor Archive is an enviable resource for graphic designers and creative studios, plus a covetable item in its own right. 

Format: Hardcover 

Pages: 384 

Artwork: 600 color illustrations 

Size: 8.8 in x 11.3 in x 1.3 in 

Published: May 13th, 2025 

Designed by: Actual Source