Working in Missoula

We spent exactly 1 week in Missoula, Montana - and I gotta say, we loved it! It’s near the border into Idaho, nestled in some mountains, and has a river running right through the middle. It’s also home to the University of Montana so Ben and I agreed it has a very ~ young and hip ~ vibe.

It was scorching all week though! While the sun was out, we spent our time inside establishments. The van is just unbearable when it’s above 90 degrees.

Mornings/afternoons we went to coffee shops - our favorite was Market on Front. There was also a Planet Fitness, so we took advantage of their lounge area and spent some afternoons there.

We also got Chipotle 3 times! I cooked one night, but we were both dripping sweat afterwards from the stove. Not worth it. So we decided to just eat out, or make easy dinners.

The last day we spent at the public library which really felt like cracking the code. Such a great environment to be productive and we didn’t feel as bad staying for hours on end.

I got a lot of work done due to Ben’s influence. The man works from sun up to sun down!! I made several videos, edited his presentation, and worked on another graphic for his thesis.

I didn’t enjoy this one as much as the last. I think because this one leans more figurative than abstract, and abstract infographics feel like more of a challenge/puzzle to figure out. Regardless though, it was a fun process to nail it down.

Ben was pretty clear with what he needed, so most of my process was figuring out the style, how to label things, color palette, etc.

My biggest struggle was where to put the facility measurements in the first picture so they were visible. You can see I move them around several times.

The best part of the process comes after the overall structure/set up is finalized and I get to tweak the colors! I usually google different color palettes, and then screen pick the colors I want to use.