Nothing Nowhere x MEC

"Gear to weather the storm outside. Music to weather the storm within."

This Nothing Nowhere and Mountain Equipment Company collaboration for Nothing Nowhere’s weather the storm album release is an unexpected but powerful campaign. The focus of the project is on sustainability. Although Nothing Nowhere is seen mostly as an emo or alternative artist, he frequents the outdoors and cares about the environment. Using MEC’s well-made and durable products as a base for this album’s merch, we can make merch that lasts. This helps us avoid fast fashion while also adding more style and self-expression to the very functional MEC products. This crossover pulls two very different worlds together through a shared interest and elevates both halves using each other's strengths as a whole.

Bridging these two worlds was a difficult but exciting challenge. I used a bold sans serif typeface, which is a common theme in both Nothing Nowhere’s and MEC’s branding, as well as the colour green. I wanted to have the edginess and very open self-expression that Nothing Nowhere is known for, while not going over the top. The beautiful nature landscape photo of the album lends itself to an outdoor brand like MEC. I edited the photo to accentuate the green I wanted, and in the process, I turned the sky green. The symbolism of a green sky is perfect for this project because a green sky is a sign that a bad storm is coming. Using the three symbols of the scythe, flower, and axe together in the logo helped further close the gap between the two brands. The Grim Reaper is a significant figure in Nothing Nowhere’s branding, so the scythe pulls just enough of that in. The flower in the centre represents nature, but is also a tattoo that Nothing Nowhere has on his hand, which he often covers his face with in photos. It has become synonymous with him as an artist. Lastly, the axe represents camping and the wilderness. You won’t last long on a camping trip without an axe with you.