Ryan stolp is a jackson based illustrator, designer, & entrepreneur.
You can get the hard resume facts on LinkedIn here.
Below is the thread that ties it all together and the fun stuff in-between.
Manifesto
I found Human Factors Engineering in college, which put a structured education to a passion and behavior I had already pursued. The discipline is a blend of engineering and psychology applied to the design of tools and systems that human use. It's customer experience, information design, user interface design, and behavioral psychology all in one. It's design to meet people where they are.
This is the thread and it applies to everything I've done.
Cartoons demand a behavioral and cultural insight, and a very strategic information design to deliver the punch line.
Marketing campaigns require data science to define the behaviors of target audiences, all packaged in a design that breaks through the noise and drives action.
Mountaineering and dogsledding force a purity of essential design to cut weight, afford options, and withstand challenging conditions.
Simply, I think humans are fascinating, and any opportunity to craft the world in which we inhabit and interact, is a welcome opportunity to change humanity on a grand scale, and our individual lived experience on a daily scale.
Work, resume, and C.V. things
Recently
Co-founder and principal at Orijin Media, a full service digital and marketing agency in Jackson, WY. For over 6 years we've served local to global brands, especially those in the eCommerce non-profit spaces. Visit the Orijin site.
Creator of Lift Lines comics, a 3x per week comic in the JH News&Guide and published on Instagram.
Featured installation artist with JH Public Art. For 6 months my whimsical tiny-home stood along Hwy. 89 reminding passers-by of the Neverland quality of Jackson, as well as the very real housing crisis. Read about it here.
I co-authored and illustrated a coffee table graphic novel about the unique difficulties of trying to make it work in a Mountain Town. Dark humorous plot lines include housing, the job market, the issue of curated online personas (especially in adventure sports), and the future of "the Dream".
Spoke on a panel with cartoonist Greg Kearney about the state of political cartoons in a fraught national landscape. Sponsored by Wyoming Humanities as part of their initiative on civility in politics.
Before Jackson
Seasonal winter work as a dog sled guide (musher) at HuskyWorks in Vermont. They were the softest co-workers I'll ever have. Watch some dog sledding videos on our crazy trail network here.
Recipient of the American Alpine Club's Live Your Dream Grant. My college climbing friends and I explored unclimbed peaks in the Djangart Region of Kyrgyzstan. We pioneered several remote routes, one of which put us on top of an unclimbed peak. Previously known as Pk 5318 it is now noted as Pik After You. Read about it in the American Alpine Club Journal here. Or watch a silly and too-long self-produced video about it here.
Wilderness ranger in Pisgah National Forest in Western North Carolina. I focused on trail and invasive species inventories in Linville Gorge, Southern Nantahala, Shining Rock and Middle Prong wildernesses. The opportunity was managed by SAWS, Southern Appalachian Wilderness Stewards -- they do great work!
Partially thru-hiked the Appalachian Trail, Georgia to Virginia -- at which point I got a job as a Wilderness Ranger. Get paid to do what I already was doing? Sure! I designed and sewed my backpack, shelter and sleeping bag. This turned into a short lived lightweight backpacking brand, Deep South Mountaineering.
Alpine Hammock - My first independent venture post-college, Mike Brown and I were an early benefactor of Kickstarter in 2012. I designed and managed domestic, and then overseas, production for our complicated hammock-bivy hybrid shelter, as well as the online sales platform.
Extremely fortunate to work at Continuum, a world-renown product design agency. My work there was as Envisioner, a visual storyteller that blended user research with design thinking and innovation processes. Their process and genius team developed products like the Swiffer, Reebok Pumps, Keurig, and Diabetes Omnipod.
Education
Tufts University
BS Human Factors Engineering with Fine Art focus
NOLS - National Outdoor Leadership School
Mountaineering Outdoor Educators PNW
*Crevasse Rescue came in handy recently, read the article or listen to the podcast