Community Feature: Kayla Clements

Today’s post features a dear friend of mine, Creative Director Kayla Clements celebrating her launch of Daytripper. Daytripper is the story of how, through a series of day-trips, Kayla Clements and her boyfriend spent the summer of 2017 exploring, camping, and hiking through 9 states and 12 of America’s National Parks, while running a business on the road. Here’s a deeper look into Kayla’s project…

Where are you based?

Brooklyn, NY & San Diego, CA

What is your creative zone of genius?

I thrive the most in curation – curating portfolios, moodboards, creative briefs, custom links, book layouts, etc. This is where I get lost in flow states and produce my best work.

What is the story of this particular project?

Daytripper: 60 Days on the Road Exploring America’s National Parks’ is a woman-written, thoughtfully-designed coffee table book exploring vivid photographs and compelling stories from time spent on the road. This is the story of how, through a series of day-trips, Creative Director Kayla Clements and her boyfriend spent the summer of 2017 exploring, camping, and hiking through nine states and twelve of America’s National Parks while running a business on the road.

What was your inspiration for creating this?

I aimed to share not only the photographs, but the experiences from the day hikes where we struggled to get to the trail end. The hikes presented challenges and the lessons learned became profound. The trail is where all of our most memorable experiences happened and where I most connected to myself. Every step provided me an opportunity of growth and reflection, not only physically but mentally. When thinking of the trip, I am reminded of a sketch I saw at a campground host station in Glacier National Park, MT of two hikers at the top of a mountain with this simple phrase: “Perspective, Get Some.”

This is my story in hopes that it inspires you to create yours.

–

The impact I hope to make with the book is for awareness and conservation of these sacred lands. On top of being printed on recycled paper and printed locally in the United States, a portion of every sale will be donated back to support the parks.

What did your creative process look like in making this project?

It has been a complete labor of love. I have spent about four months working on this project full-time in the following stages:

Writing – 4 weeks

Photo Editing – 4 weeks

Proofreading – 3 weeks

Book Design – 8 weeks

Printer Sourcing – 4 weeks

Website Design – 1 week

Video production – 2 weeks

Crowdfunding campaign set-up – 3 weeks

Many of the stages overlapped and happened cohesively and my background in design and print production set me up for success.

Additionally, before I started, I signed up for a 10-week course called the Art of Freelance to help provide the framework and structure to push me to complete this project. Although the scope goes beyond the 10-week course, at the end, I have a printed proof in hand for our final showcase and the books are ready to go to press once pre-sales close.

How can people help you get involved?

Sign-up for pre-sales: https://www.daytripperthebook.com

Spread the word! Help me get this book into as many hands as possible.

Where can people follow you or see more of your work?

Personal musings and travel: @kaylaclements 

And my creative agency/design studio specializing in working with artists @unavoltastudio