habitat:
Black Hills, South Dakota
2026 Black Hills Adventure Guide
Scope:
Cover and editorial design, client-directed concept
Client
Custer County Chronicle
Editorial and cover design for the 2026 Black Hills Adventure Guide, published by the Custer County Chronicle. This year's cover, built from the client's ideas and direction, celebrates America's 250th. Embracing the patriotic and nostaglic, the cover invites turning pages.
The job wasn't to invent a concept from scratch ~ it was to listen closely and build the design their vision called for. Working from the client's direction, the cover became a scrapbook of commemorative stamps ~ scalloped, bunting-bound, sealed with a gold anniversary mark.
A cover built for the moment
Listening as craft
The thread
carries through
The featured stories maintains the same red-white-and-blue, vintage thread. The birthday roundup runs deep red display type over patriotic photography. The playhouse feature dresses its theater season in navy-and-red banner blocks and vintage-playbill show cards.