An award-winning lifestyle publication
Turn a 2000s-era online buying guide into a beautiful magazine that Hearst would invest in.
I helped transform a scrappy 2000s-era buying guide into a Webby Award–winning editorial brand with a distinct point of view, a full masthead and ad pipeline, original photography, ambitious feature storytelling, and a print magazine.
And we had a good time doing it. Gear Patrol was a team who liked spending time together. We drank espresso together, cycled across the South Island of New Zealand, and stayed up late wrapping magazine issues. My job was to instigate and create, to start fires and tend them. As senior editor and brand director, I helped build the editorial team, commission and direct photographers and writers, shape the voice and visual identity, develop brand partnerships, and create new revenue opportunities around the work.
That included everything from building an advertising pipeline at Outdoor Retailer to securing tourism-board support for large-scale editorial projects in Scotland, New Zealand, and Japan. The work taught me how to bring ideas to life through creativity and diplomacy.
“As our staff frontiersman, Jeremy pushed us to think broader, bigger and bolder than even we thought possible. His answer, so often, to seemingly impossible questions from Ben, myself or others was simply, ‘Sure, why the hell not? Let me look into it.’”
Founder, Gear Patrol
A biannual print magazine that became a branding engine
Gear Patrol launched its biannual print magazine in 2015. It became a branding engine that drove a surge in direct traffic, advertising partners, and collaborators around the world.
Three Issues
Three issues of the biannual print run I directed, each built around 6–7 shoots on location around the world—a heli-skiing descent, a Sri Lankan surf break, and the Nürburgring in Germany. We reviewed gear while telling real human stories.
The E-Bike Criterium
Most e-bike reviews are spec sheets. I turned ours into a race through the streets of Brooklyn, stocked with professional racers and friends, with obstacles like eating ice cream and buying flowers, to see which electric bike actually held up at speed. Photography by Emiliano Granado.
Japan
A chapter built around Hokkaido—a powder day with legendary snowboarder Taro Tamai, a visit to the furniture makers at Condé House, and a stay at one of the finest ryokans in the world.
Profiles
Two long-form interviews I wrote and conducted: climbing with Conrad Anker in Tennessee, and an exit interview—plus a round of golf, for money—with David Granger, Esquire’s editor-in-chief of 19 years.
Tabletop Direction with Michael Somoroff
I partnered with photographer Michael Somoroff for a classic tabletop cocktail shoot, building each still life from storyboard to table—shot on a vintage Deardorff 4x5 view camera.
Films that carried the brand’s voice on screen
I partnered with friend and videographer Sung Han on multiple videos, most of them improvised together on the spot. We always added special touches, like tracking down local Isle of Skye radio host Steve Clark to narrate the intro to our award-winning “Right to Roam” Scotland travel guide.
Right to RoamA Scotland travel guide shot as a short film—the kind of ambitious, cinematic storytelling that helped define Gear Patrol’s editorial voice beyond the page.
Watch the film →
The Hunter-Gatherer ChefChef Tom Lewis of Monachyle Mhor, foraging, butchering, and cooking a meal from the wild Scottish Highlands.
Watch the film →
Lands AfarA guide to New Zealand, from the culture of the North Island to a winter adventure across the South.
Watch the film →
Red Hook CritRace day in Brooklyn with Neil Bezdek, four-time champion of the Red Hook Crit.
Watch the film →
A Century Ride Under the Southern SkyFour friends and a hundred-mile push across New Zealand’s South Island, chasing alpine light from sunrise to sundown.
Watch the film →
The Three ChimneysA look inside the kitchen at one of the Isle of Skye’s most celebrated restaurants.
Watch the film →Building an advertising pipeline at Outdoor Retailer and beyond
As brand director, I developed new revenue opportunities around the editorial work—from building an advertising pipeline at Outdoor Retailer to securing tourism-board support for large-scale editorial projects.
Outdoor Retailer
Outdoor Retailer started as a place to find new gear. It became a place where we set up our own mini photo studio, took 60+ meetings to build advertising relationships, and promoted the magazine. Ad partners included Fjällräven, The North Face, and Smartwool. I went alone in 2012 and brought a full team in later years.
Red Hook Crit
We sponsored the Red Hook Crit, putting the brand at the center of one of cycling’s fastest, most photogenic races.
Watch the film →Tourism Partnerships
We partnered with tourism boards from Scotland, New Zealand, and Japan to fund our own ambitious projects rather than take press junkets. These “missions” resulted in upwards of 50 stories each, across print and digital.
Building large-scale missions with tourism boards around the world
Missions were large-scale editorial projects built in partnership with tourism boards and brands—engines for digital storytelling that doubled as the model for print’s own chapters. Many ran on shockingly low budgets, often $3,000–$6,000, funded by partners in a way that maintained full editorial sovereignty.
Scotland
Partnered with VisitScotland on “Right to Roam,” a travel guide built around the country’s freedom-to-roam law—nearly 30,000 square miles open to the public. The mission produced a short film (narrated by a local Isle of Skye radio host we tracked down for the intro) and more than 50 stories across print and digital.
New Zealand
Partnered with Tourism New Zealand on “Lands Afar,” an expedition across both islands—the culture of the North Island, a winter crossing of the South, and a century ride across the South Island’s back roads. It became one of the site’s most widely read travel guides.
Japan
Partnered with the Japan National Tourism Organization on a mission built around Hokkaido—snowboarding with Taro Tamai, visiting the furniture makers at Condé House, and staying at one of the world’s finest ryokans. It became the template for the magazine’s own Japan chapter, rebuilt later for print.
Photography
All photography below is my own.
