SAVE THE
BOUNDARY WATERS
The Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCAW) is located in northeastern Minnesota and is the most visited wilderness area in the United States. It is comprised of over 1,000 lakes and interconnected waterways, is completely free of roads and other structures, and is federally protected. It features some of the world’s cleanest water (you can drink straight from the lakes!). Sadly, the BCWAW is threatened by one of America’s most toxic industries, sulfide-ore copper mining. Mines have been proposed on the edge of the wilderness area and would result in sulfuric acid and other toxins leaching into the lakes and rivers. Save the Boundary Waters is the leading organization working to permanently protect this region!
In the summer of 2023, Save the Boundary Waters launched a sticker contest. Stickers were supposed to have a wilderness theme and needed to include the words “Save the Boundary Waters”. The winning sticker would be added to the non-profit’s website, available for purchase to aid in the fundraising process.
I created my design using Adobe Illustrator. I first typed the organization’s name in a heavy sans-serif, and arranged the letters into a pleasing formation. I then used my iPad to sketch a different characteristic of the Boundary Waters onto each letter.
After playing around with different word layouts, I submitted a version with the word “waters” turned on its side.
This design ended up winning the contest! It is still available for purchase today here!
All purchases are greatly appreciated and support Save the Boundary Waters’ fight against sulfide-ore copper mining.
My sticker even made it to Congress! Eight months after I’d won the contest, I received an email from the organization with a photo of US Representative Betty McCollum (left) with my sticker on her personal computer. It’s very rewarding to know that others appreciate and use something that I’ve created.
This sticker is the first major project I made that I am still really proud of! I created it the summer after my freshman year of college. On the day it was due, I remember frantically trying to finish it, hiding my iPad under the table while at an ice cream shop where I was supposed to be visiting my extended family! While working on this sticker, I learned how to use Illustrator on my iPad. I hadn’t done much previous “drawing” work; I usually just designed on my computer with my trackpad. Sketching each of my letters out allowed me to first get my ideas down without perfecting them, which doesn’t always come easily to me. I also learned that the iPad and Mac versions of Illustrator can’t be open at the same time… or else you end up with ten million copies of Untitled-10–conflict…