- Art
- Ilka Hadlock, Ilka Graphics
- First Seen
- January 2019, on Instagram
The Outpost origins
In late 2018 I hired Ilka Hadlock of Ilka Graphics to draw maps for the welcome binders at Outpost, my vacation rental company. I didn’t want plain wayfinding. I wanted each map to give a guest a feel for the corner of Jackson Hole they were staying in.
Ilka drew a map for every area where Outpost hosts guests and filled each one with small icons for whatever sat nearby, the landmarks, the food spots, the things to do. A guest could take in a whole neighborhood at a glance.
The Instagram reveal
In January 2019 Ilka posted the complete collection on her Instagram. Until then the icons had only lived scattered across our maps. Gathered on one page, they read like a portrait of Jackson Hole.
That post stayed with me. The symbols caught the many sides of this valley and did it with a sense of humor. I had no plan for them yet. I just knew we weren’t done with them.
The Collection
From Chefs to Provisions
The chance came in a strange season. When the pandemic closed so much of our town, chefs Clark Myers and Chas Baki founded C&C Chefs in April 2020, a food delivery company built in answer to those closures. Clark was a friend I’d made through basketball, so when I asked to join them as a partner it felt less like a business decision than a personal one. Food has always been about community for me. It was what gathered my family and friends around the same table.
Once they brought me in I dove into the branding, and Ilka’s icons were an easy call. They pictured the places we talk about over a meal, and they carried the venture as it grew into Provisions. The playful look fit for a couple of years. Then catering took over the business, the brand grew up with it, and the icons went back on the shelf.
Food has always been about community for me, a shared experience around the same table.
A New Era at Snake River
Our early branding at Snake River Roasting Co. leaned on the river in our name, giving equal weight to Snake River and Roasting Co. For a while we moved toward a more polished direction that put the Tetons and the river front and center, much in line with what Provisions had become. The longer I sat with it, the more it felt too serious for who we are.
So I asked Provisions for permission to carry the icons over as we rebuilt our brand. They said yes. This time the icons were staying put.
To me the icons are everything our coffee fuels, from the first cup of the morning to the one that rescues an afternoon. They have this community’s energy in them. For visitors they turn into mementos, small reminders of their days in Jackson Hole.