We'd love to tell you about Annie Riker, an artist out of Asheville, North Carolina. She's a surface designer and illustrator who over the years has contributed her national park posters and sticker designs to CAN. This spring her Appalachian Trail design inspired two See America product launches, Merrell trail running shoes and Wyeth hats! Annie is a former Creative Director for the NPCA and we're so grateful that her national park expertise, love of nature, creative spirit and illustration skills landed her in our community where her work can do so much good. You can see Annie's designs online at CAN and be sure to check out her Merrell trail running shoes and Wyeth hat project, too, all helping support Earthjustice organization. We know you'll enjoy reading all about Annie!
When we approached Annie about making a poster for our Merrell x See America shoe collaboration, she immediately loved the idea! She got to work designing and we think her Appalachian Trail Max Patch poster is the perfect inspiration for a trail running shoe, with Annie's love of hiking and nature baked into her artist
In March, CAN collaborated on another See America project, this time with California hat label Wyeth! Annie had just submitted her Appalachian Trail poster for the Merrell project, so we showed the design to Wyeth and they loved it just as much. The See America x Wyeth hat collection debuted this spring, was sold at Nordstrom and quickly became a favorite with See America fans. Proceeds from the Wyeth project give back to Earthjustice with each purchase. Congrats Annie for having your design spark not just one, but two product launches so far this year!
Some of Annie's See America designs for CAN include Acadia National Park and Chaco Culture National Historic Park, as well as a full sheet of national park stickers and matching posters that incorporate a bunch of different – and all equally amazing – national parks and monuments. Annie tells us, "As the former creative director of NPCA, I've thought a lot about the great variety of places the national park system preserves, including sprawling landscape parks, urban parks, historic and cultural sites, seashores, battlefields, rivers and trails." We think it really shows! Like the Merrell and Wyeth collabs, Annie's See America posters and stickers sold on CAN help support Eartjustice.org.
One more thing we love about Annie is that she makes her voice heard! Her message is loud and clear through her artistry, in the projects and companies she works with and in her enviable ability to market herself as an artist. She's always up to something cool! Annie's currently working on an outdoor art installation with Merrell so be sure to follow Annie on Instagram when you get a chance, and check out her full collection on CAN here!
Mother's Day is coming up on Sunday, May 9th and we can't think of a better time in history to celebrate moms! Moms are modern superheroes and we think they deserve special recognition for all the extra hours on the clock this past year. Our 2021 Mother's Day gift guide has fun suggestions on how to make this year extra special for your mom, grandma and all the deserving ladies in your life, with unique gift ideas like Maya Angelou socks, Women of Star Trek puzzles and the cutest little RBG baby onesie for new and expecting moms. And so much more! Proceeds from our Mother's Day gift guide help support UltraViolet feminist organization, giving back to women and girls with every sale. Happy Mother's Day to all you wonderful hardworking moms!
