Mast’s rebrand of outdoor photography platform wildist takes a nostalgic, nature-inspired approach

Inspired by the great outdoors, wildist helps photographers with their personal growth and career development through a series of workshops, classes and an online forum. Building on the adventures as an outdoor photographer, founder Alex Strohl combines with an ever-evolving group of field-tested photographers to offer an unparalleled experience packed with world-class tools and industry-leading knowledge. The journey to such a platform wasn’t an overnight success, however, as Strohl initially ran the company entirely on his own under the moniker Strohl Works before deciding it would benefit from becoming a community much bigger than himself. A crucial part of the transition to wildist was its rebrand, for which Strohl turned to Denver-based design studio Mast. Working directly with Strohl and his team, Mast set out to create distinction from Strohl Works, aiming to build equity for wildist in its own right. The new symbol makes haste with that aim, building on Strohl’s nature-focused background through a multi-faceted construction that combines a ‘w’ with hints of mountains, trees and upwards movement. By creating a symbol that’s open to interpretation, Mast have mirrored the varied pathways wildist members can take throughout their learning journey. The accompanying wordmark, which is typeset in Neue Haas Grotesk, balances contemporary traits with the simplicity of historic film packaging. Travis Ladue, Principal and Art Director at Mast, describes the type choice to us as one that will “not stand in the way of the photographic work while injecting a feeling of nostalgia.” On its purely lowercase typesetting, Ladue adds it helps to balance the typeface’s maturity “with approachability and friendliness.”