The Climb

From the outset, the project felt meant to be. We had a solid design premise and our background in designing beautiful yet technically accurate maps set the stage for a productive timeline. Given a blank slate by the showrunner, we had full rein to figure out how we wanted to build something fantastic for the maps of the different climbs each episode highlighted.

Accuracy was a key focal point for us- conveying the climbers’ paths trekking the trickiest rock faces in the world and also explaining to the audience the technique involved and the ways to approach the climb.

Each climb originates at the ‘root’ at the base and we developed a design language to navigate moving the markers along the trail path both for accuracy and to increase audience fluency with the climbing lingo. We also designed our maps to differentiate between heights, hand and footholds, belay points, crack and anchors and the route itself, all composited on top of actual photography.

If the topography was in any way inaccurate we would adjust our design to correct and ensure the viewers were seeing the most technically precise version of the climb possible. The end result is a clean design that has a sophisticated style and pulls together the components of each episode really beautifully.

Artist Chris Scales was the mastermind behind all of this technical design. He did a ton of research over the course of 6-7 months— essentially becoming a desk-bound rock climbing expert.

The series came together to be a stunning exploration of climbing and an exposition on the camaraderie of the climbing community. The best part of the sequences for us tied the technical aspects of the climb and the photography into the transitions in each episode, setting the stage for something cinematic and special. Thank you to our partners at IPC and HBO Max for letting us be a part of this special show.