Think about your self in a park on a sunny afternoon, surrounded by a swirl of laughter, birdsong, perhaps a breeze blowing by way of the leaves. Or on the seaside some summer time day, laying out scorching and relaxed on a blanket, listening to the water, smelling the humid air, watching the daylight glint off your folks’ and lovers’ shades.
These pictures might help us really feel comfortable and comfy in our personal pores and skin, and for good purpose. After we go exterior, we aren’t simply in nature, we are nature—free to be precisely who we’re and reside in concord with the world round us.
That’s the idea behind the graphics that REI Co-op designer Bradlee Thielen dreamed up for this yr’s Outdoors with Pleasure assortment: a imaginative and prescient of LGBTQ+ utopia that takes us outside and into our true factor.
A Seattle-based graphic designer and illustrator who has been with the co-op since 2019, Thielen describes their work as “people-focused,” usually that includes brilliant, daring human figures and playful, fluid motion. “My world could be very totally different from ‘the’ world,” he says, explaining the non-public significance of depicting queerness, love, enjoyable, nature and freedom for the co-op’s annual celebration of LGBTQ+ people within the outside. “I needed to showcase my little microcosm of group that I see, and what I used to be impressed by.”
The REI Outdoors with Pleasure assortment is accessible year-round and includes a new design yearly. Previous editions have featured artwork by illustrator Christina Moreland and designer Brian Rau. That is the primary time an REI worker has been commissioned for the venture. Thielen says they started brainstorming the design in 2022 and accomplished their preliminary concepting in about two weeks, which have been adopted by rounds of opinions and edits that helped refine the picture.
The enjoyment and self-expression celebrated by Thielen’s artwork is now accessible on REI Co-op attire and equipment together with Nalgene water bottles (16 and 32 ounces), a camp mug, ball cap, flying disc, tote bag and T-shirt. We just lately caught up with Thielen to ask about his inspiration for the gathering’s illustration, how nature conjures up them and what an ideal day outside appears like.
This interview has been edited for size and readability.
Bradlee, what are your reminiscences of spending time exterior as you have been rising up? What does an ideal day exterior appear to be to you?
I used to be exterior lots as a toddler, but it surely wasn’t particular to 1 exercise. Being outside was tied to play, and I largely performed with different youngsters residing within the neighborhood. We moved lots once I was rising up, so bodily place modified. We didn’t all the time have an enormous yard. Open air, to me, was a spot for escape. I believe it nonetheless is right now. Even now, I believe that being outside doesn’t need to be a couple of singular exercise. We might be exterior simply to be exterior. An ideal outside day to me appears like time in a metropolis park and welcoming a number of buddies to take a seat on a blanket and play card video games.
Moreover getting outside, what do you get pleasure from doing exterior of labor?
Outdoors of labor, I’m a painter and illustrator. I’ve been educating myself gouache portray. I really like how opaque, vibrant and brilliant gouache is. Since school, I’ve been closely centered on digital artwork, however now I’m attempting to study extra about bodily artwork. It’s onerous being completely new to one thing once more, however one other artist informed me that “all the pieces is progress.” I’m studying to be okay with being “dangerous” at gouache and having fun with the journey as I study. It’s a course of that has just lately clicked for me.
Normally the graphics for REI Outdoors with Pleasure are created by exterior artists, so how did it really feel to be invited to contribute to the road this yr as a co-op worker?
It has positively been a aim of mine to work on a full attire assortment. Since I’m not likely on that individual workforce, I didn’t ever actually assume it will occur. So then once I was approached with this, it was like, ‘Oh my God, it’s occurring!’ I’ve had a number of buddies ship me pictures of the gathering from the shop as a result of they know I labored on it.
How did you strategy creating this yr’s REI Outdoors with Pleasure assortment?
My illustrations are very people-focused. I like displaying individuals collectively and giving them a way of place. A few of my inspirations have been The place’s Waldo? and the portray [A Sunday on La Grande Jatte – 1884], which each showcase a big group of individuals collectively. A lot of my earlier work has been heavy on symbolism, however for this assortment, I needed to create a extra literal work that showcases the microcosm of group that I see.
Madison Park Seashore in Seattle was an inspiration for this assortment. The day after Pleasure, the seaside is full as a result of everybody takes the time without work to spend exterior. That impressed the massive assortment of queer our bodies residing authentically in an out of doors area. I had all the time dreamed of engaged on an attire assortment however didn’t assume it will occur. It was an honor to be approached for this venture!
How does nature encourage your work and artwork?
Nature provides me inspiration for colours to make use of and emotions to evoke. I usually assume, “How can I draw a tree?” or, “How can I evoke the colours of being close to a lake within the summertime?”
What does being Outdoors with Pleasure imply to you?
To me, it means being exterior with no limits or guardrails. You don’t have to consider the way you’re shifting by way of area. You’re simply shifting. Any area that means that you can be your self, no-holds-barred, is a spot you might be exterior with pleasure.
Do you’ve got any objectives to Choose Outdoors this yr?
I’ve turn out to be keen on paddle boarding just lately. My buddies all talked about it and luxuriate in it, so I made a decision to purchase a paddle board. Once I was in class, I kayaked lots and knew I liked being out on the water, however I didn’t know I favored paddle boarding till just lately. My companion is planning to purchase a paddle board as effectively so we will go collectively. My aim for this summer time is to get adequate to face up on the board.
