Conversations with Cameron Nelson

Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
Growing up near Denver, the mountains were close and yet inaccessible to me. After a free ski trip, I was handed down a snowboard. My friends helped me to get my chops on the slopes in high school. Simultaneously, as I was learning how to snowboard, I experienced a lot of Colorado through competitive distance running. During college, I fell in love with a utilitarian approach to design. I also got into rock climbing and trail running, fitting some backpacking in there too. I began gleaning inspiration from these experiences and began developing them into some side projects.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not, what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
For me, Pilgrim originated as a place for me to express my ideas. So, it has been more of an escape from my daily grind. The road hasn’t been bumpy per se, but more winding, unknown, and long. I have been working as a designer full-time since 2008 and my career in advertising is what made me want to create a company focused on design. Some struggles have been navigating an online business and learning the art of selling apparel. As I’ve increased my brand awareness on social media, I realized there is a lot of overlap with public relations: building the right kind of relationships, avoiding spam, and maintaining boundaries where you need them. The largest struggle I have faced is naively sharing my work before it’s manifested into a product. Folks can be quick to riff on your ideas — I have learned just to be more strategic with how much and often I share my work. Lastly, words of encouragement go a long way in helping anyone starting out. So thank you to everyone who has supported Pilgrim so far.

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
My goal is to disrupt the outdoor retail market with a design-driven and artist-focused business. Often a company will contract a designer behind the scenes and make a good profit from that artist’s work while the artist gets only a small payout. With Pilgrim, I want to flip that script. Being design-centric allows me the liberty to lead the way with the art and concept of each item. I hope to avoid the tropes or stereotypes of other outdoor apparel companies as I build Pilgrim. I craft my work with a personal sense of history and intentionality. There is always a story behind each illustration, which allows my audience to gravitate toward the apparel with their own curiosity. Just last week, I saw the cashier at my local liquor store wearing one of my hats and we got to connect over it. It was awesome to hear his story of why he bought the hat.

Can you share something surprising about yourself?
This is tough to answer. I’m a pretty open book, honestly. Most people might not know that I was planning to be a high school art teacher before pursuing design as a career. 

• Hats | $32 USD + Shipping
• Shirts | $25-36 USD + Shipping
• Stickers | $3-5 USD + Shipping
• Art Prints | $20-25 USD + Shipping

• Website: www.pilgrimdesign.co
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/pilgrim.design/
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/pilgrimdesignco/

Image Credits
Ian Orion