Just wanted to make a quick mention of a project I'm contributing to: Deadly99 from ADVrider is tackling the logistics of stringing together a cross-Canada gravel road route suitable for dual-sport motorcycles and overland 4x4s. It will be a proper backcountry route, linking public trails and gravel roads across the Canadian wilderness, coast to coast.
It's very much a collaborative effort, many folks are chipping-in with local road knowledge, a cartographer is contributing proper topographical maps, a videographer will be making a DVD and I'm lending some graphic design skills. This will be available to the public as a printed guide. Here's a sneak preview of what the logo and guide book will look like. It's just a rough draft at the moment, and will change as the project nears completion. Check out the whole story on ADVrider.com though you may want to skip toward the end - 58 pages as of this post...
It's very much a collaborative effort, many folks are chipping-in with local road knowledge, a cartographer is contributing proper topographical maps, a videographer will be making a DVD and I'm lending some graphic design skills. This will be available to the public as a printed guide. Here's a sneak preview of what the logo and guide book will look like. It's just a rough draft at the moment, and will change as the project nears completion. Check out the whole story on ADVrider.com though you may want to skip toward the end - 58 pages as of this post...
February 19, 2011 at 6:05 PM
Beautiful work. I've been furiously coming up with ideas for the video portion of the package.
February 20, 2011 at 5:48 PM
Hey thanks Quantis. Yeah it's a cool project, everybody chipping-in where they can. It's gonna be EPIC when it's finished.
February 22, 2011 at 4:32 PM
Sounds great! Ironically, as the Trans-America Trail here was more publicized, the more popular it became, the populated, and the less attractive. Soon, everyone was riding it and it lost some of its charm. I hope that doesn't happen up North.
February 23, 2011 at 11:31 AM
Yeah that's always a risk when sharing great locations. I watch a travel/food show with Anthony Bourdain, and he says he feels terrible when he mentions a great authentic local place to eat in Cambodia or wherever on the show. And he comes back in a few years and they've opened a Starbucks and a McDonald's across the road.
I think the size and remoteness of the Canadian wilderness will help reduce the impact. American towns seem to be spread-out evenly across the country - it seems like the TAT would be easy to jump on from anywhere. But the low population of Canada means there's a LOT of empty wilderness. I think the TCAT will run through some way-out-the-back-of-beyond places.
February 23, 2011 at 12:58 PM
The TCAT is more appealing than our TAT here. On the other hand, two of us rode the back country in Oregon for two weeks last fall and had many days when we didn't see another human. It was wonderful.
Perhaps some day I'll make it up to the Far North and try the riding there.
February 24, 2011 at 8:23 AM
Looks awesome. Great fonts/color schemes. Can't wait to check out the finished product
February 24, 2011 at 12:22 PM
Hey thanks Anthony. I wanted to get away from the standard adventure motorcycle look to go for something a bit more timeless. An homage to the Canadian frontier, without being too yee-haw-cowboy! :)
The big challenge was to make a good looking template that was easy enough for somebody who's not a graphic designer to work with. There's an incredible amount of maps, images and text that will need to be plugged in!