Peak Performance

about

(Est. 1965) “The National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS) is a non-profit outdoor education school based in the United States dedicated to teaching environmental ethics, technical outdoors skills, wilderness medicine, risk management and judgment, and leadership on extended wilderness expeditions and in traditional classrooms. The NOLS mission is to be the leading source and teacher of wilderness skills and leadership that serve people and the environment. NOLS runs courses on six continents, with courses in a variety of wilderness environments and for almost any age group. Courses feature both leadership and technical outdoor skills, which include backpacking, canoeing, whitewater kayaking, packrafting, caving, rock climbing, fly fishing, horse-packing, sea kayaking, mountaineering, rafting, sailing, skiing, snowboarding, and wilderness medicine. NOLS has trained more than 280,000 students. Academic credit is available for all courses, through either the University of Utah, Western State Colorado University, or Central Wyoming College. NOLS also has direct credit agreements with many colleges and universities. NOLS is headquartered in Lander, Wyoming.” (Wikipedia)

design by

Magnifico Design (Brooklyn, NY) and Wolf & Wilhelmine (New York, NY)

related links

NOLS post on Medium

opinion/notes

This is a straight-up evolution that is a pleasure to review: Old? Not good. New? very good! While I could leave the opinion at that let's address what makes it better. The key change is the background of the frame that, by making it dark, now allows the sun to be bright and not need a thin divider line from the mountain and can now simply sit behind the stroke that defines the mountain. It's a more cohesive, harmonious unit. The more condensed, industrial typeface for the wordmark makes it instantly more rugged and hardcore as opposed to the more textbook feel of the old one. Overall, it's a perfect change — nothing earth-shattering — that keeps the essence of the old logo but improves it technically in every respect.

Thanks to Tara Laase-McKinney for the tip.