FROM THE DESK | ISSUE 005

FIELD NOTES | WHAT THE HELL DO YOU DO WITH ALL THESE FILE TYPES?

If you’ve ever found yourself asking, “Wait, do you need the .AI or the .PDF?”, this one might be for you.

File formats are the unsung heroes (and occasional villains) of every brand handoff. Get it right, and your assets work across web, print, packaging, merch, signage, you name it. Get it wrong, and your Instagram icon ends up stretched, blurry, or worse: in Word.

So here’s a quick breakdown straight from our Idle Hands File Guide:

• AI / EPS: Editable vector files. Print designers love these. Never send them to someone who doesn’t know what “bleed” means.

• SVG: The internet’s best friend. Crisp, scalable, and perfect for logos online.

• PDF: Good for printing and sharing. Sometimes editable. Sometimes not. Always a safe bet.

• PNG: Transparent background. Great for web, never for print.

• JPG: No transparency. Use for photos and previewing artwork, not logos or files you need clean edges on.

• MP4 / GIF: For motion or when your static just won’t cut it.

Knowing which file to use (and when to ask for a better one) will save you time, money, and most importantly your designer’s sanity.

We’ve pulled all of this together in a free, no-nonsense download: The Idle Hands File Prep Guide. Grab it below, save it, and never send a 72dpi logo to a printer again.

FRESH OFF THE DESK | BUILT TO TRAIN FOR MOUNTAIN LIFE

When we moved to Fernie, one of the first things we looked for was a good sweat, and a solid community. We found both at Fernie Mountain Fitness & Athletics. And when owner Jana reached out about a rebrand, we were fully in.

This town isn’t training for mirror selfies, it’s training for 12-hour ski days, bike laps ‘til dark, and whatever the trail throws at you. We leaned into that with a brand identity that pulls from old-school varsity grit and vintage mountain badge vibes. Clean, strong, and rooted in the community it serves.

At the heart of the brand is one simple line we built the whole thing around: Training for mountain life. It says everything it needs to. No fluff, no filler, just like the workouts.

Check out the full project below.

ON OUR RADAR | OPAL

Look, we love a good Instagram spiral as much as the next folks, but at some point you start wondering how you went from checking your DMs to watching a guy carve watermelon sculptures with a chainsaw.

We’ve been using an app called Opal for the last three years to help keep the chaos in check. It blocks distractions (yes, even your favourite reels), lets you schedule deep work windows, and politely bullies you into staying focused.

If you’ve ever said “I’ll just check this one thing” and then looked up 45 minutes later wondering what happened… yeah, same.

We’re big believers in creating more than we consume. Opal helps us keep that promise. Mostly.

Give it a shot for free using the link below. And this isn’t sponsored by the way, we just want fewer people losing hours of their life to the algorithm (us included).

That’s all for this week’s desk dispatch. If you learned something, laughed once, or finally figured out which file to send your printer, we’ll call that a win.

Take it easy, and we’ll catch you next Monday.

Rory & Suz