What you may need to know: A 14er is a mountain height of 14,000 ft (4267.2 m) or higher. In Colorado, we have 52 of these mountains that people enjoy trekking and is sort of like a right of passage. The classes are the different types of difficulty ranging from 1 (easy) to 4 (hardest).
For beginners, ideal hiking opportunities are in the Summer months. You want to be off the mountain by 12pm incase of storms so starting early morning is essential. If you get caught in a storm above tree line, the possibility of injury increases exponentially.
Start off the thought process with my own personal experiences with these mountains and what I learned to bring
I wanted to use retro national park styles as inspiration while still using simplicity.
Context: This kit is meant to hold the general basics for what one would need to hike an easier Class 1 or 2 14er. I was inspired to create this kit after seeing so many people hiking underprepared. While this is not only uncomfortable, it can be life threatening. From personal experience, I have learned to have the small items put together for easy packing and this is the majority of this starter kit.
The final design is an abstract depiction of the sunrise on a mountain purely because it's my favorite time to summit. After accomplishing a 14er climb, watching the sunrise from the top is beautifully inspiring. It is a physical starter case where the interior will be divided into sections for organization before the user buys it but also as available storage when not in use. There is ideally also a correlating website where the user can order items with varying sizes such as hiking boots, gloves, hats, etc.
What I learned from this project: Dieline logistics, vinyl printing, marketing skills and product development and research.
Website mockup
Final Thoughts: If I were to do this again, I would find a way to downsize the box and make it more compact. Ideally, after this main starter kit, I would release more kits of different mountains and items might needed, possibly creating a subscription box. Or further the project and release different classes with small items needed for those (such as clips or climbing gear)