Middle of Somewhere Outdoors

VISUAL MOODBOARD - June 22nd, 2026

How to Use This Page

Before any work can begin on a design, the overall brand should be well-defined. To better understand your brand’s personality, we need to have a clear idea of how your brand looks and feels. That’s why we use this, the “Visual Moodboard”.

In the following sections, I have segmented various outdoor apparel brands and included several images of their t-shirt designs. To be clear, I stuck to pulling t-shirt designs as they more easily capture the “essence” of a brand — e.g., is the brand clean or rugged, minimalistic or complex, and much more.

While looking through each section, you should:

  • Take note of the overall personality that each brand is projecting through all of their designs.

  • Take note of what you like — and what you don’t — and share those insights with me.

  • If something really speaks to you from the images below, feel free to screenshot/download and share with me.

  • Oftentimes, the best brands reflect their creators, so keep your personality in mind as you browse.

Once you’ve fully reviewed this page, please complete the following questionnaire.

1: Howler Brothers

Calling itself a “Coastal Western” style brand, Howler Brothers uses a combination of coastal beach vibes with a Western kick.

Design Keywords: Retro, Vintage, Western, Coastal, Outdoors

2: Marsh Wear

Marsh uses a similar style to Howler Brothers, i.e. a coastal-inspired brand inspired by fishing and outdoor culture.

Design Keywords: Retro, Vintage, Hunting, Fishing, Coastal, Outdoors

3: Nuthin Fancy

Rural lifestyle apparel rooted in hunting, fishing, country music, backroads, and small-town culture. Their visual language is closer to hunting brands, country music merch, and Southern lifestyle apparel than traditional outdoor performance brands.

Design Keywords: Retro, Vintage, Hunting, Fishing, Outdoors

4: AFTCO

Performance-driven fishing apparel with roots in offshore sportfishing culture. Their visual identity balances modern performance wear with classic sportfishing heritage, often featuring gamefish artwork, clean layouts, and a premium outdoor aesthetic.

Design Keywords: Retro, Vintage, Illustrated, Fishing

5: Sendero Provisions Co.

Sendero blends Southwestern culture with vintage cowboy imagery, national park aesthetics, desert landscapes, and irreverent humor.

Design Keywords: Retro, Vintage, Illustrated, Western

6: Patagonia

Patagonia's style is understated and simple, relying on classic minimalism and simple illustrative design.

Design Keywords: Vintage, Minimalistic, Simple, Outdoors

7: Columbia

Accessible, family-friendly outdoor apparel that feels approachable, fun, and adventurous.

Design Keywords: Vintage, Simple, Friendly, Outdoors

8: Duck Camp

Duck Camp blends technical outdoor performance with a relaxed, vintage camp culture aesthetic.

Design Keywords: Vintage, Relaxed, Friendly, Outdoors

9: Parks Project

Parks Project creates National park-inspired apparel that blends vintage park signage with a modern illustrative style.

Design Keywords: Vintage, Illustrated, Bold, Hand-drawn

Miscellaneous

10: Other Vintage Designs

Below are just a random selection of vintage-style designs.

Logo Review

11: Logos & Branding

Below is a collection of logos of outdoor or lifestyle brands for comparison and review.

I also included the “Not Too Bad” (NTB) AI-generated logos, just to show how they might compare to real brands. You’ll notice the larger AI design is much more complex than most real logos. The smaller AI design fits a little better into the group, but it still lacks a unique, distinctive personality that the other real-life logos possess.

LOGO FLEXIBILITY

12: Logo Flexibility

Just as an example, I’ve placed the primary Howler Brothers logo (yellow on navy) below, along with four shirt designs that feature their brand name. Notice how each design reimagines their logo — on a retro globe, with a lasso, and as fish. The primary logo is strong and unique to their brand’s personality, but they have fun and get creative on how “Howler Bros” appears on their merch.. We can do similarly, so don’t feel “stuck” — we will have lots of room for creativity moving forward. We just need a foundation to build from, hence this document.

Other companies that use “flexible” logos: Coca Cola, Patagonia, and MTV.

Done with the moodboard?

Take the questionnaire now:

Questions? Comments? Reach me below:

Kris Stewart
e: kris@heykris.com
p: 731-616-0999