Salkan

A hand-illustrated identity for a backpack brand born by two friends and the love of travel.

Intrepid explorers, Tom and Will founded Salkan after meeting in the Alps. They bonded over their love of travel and shared frustrations of not being able to find the perfect traveller’s backpack. Once back in the UK they set up business and began designing their first bag.

They named this new venture Salkan. Taken from the Salkantay trek, a lesser-known route to Machu Picchu. It translates to mean ‘wild and adventurous’, and encompasses much of the spirit and ethos they hold towards travelling and backpacking.

We created the brand identity around a symbol of the sun which has such spiritual importance in Peruvian mythology when Inti, the sun god ruled the Inca empire. We also loved that it was something that connected all backpackers around the world, whatever kind of adventure or country they’d be exploring.

Creating a collection of hand drawn illustrations we captured the excitement of travel and memorable experiences we associate it with. Everything from tuk tuks to elephants, backpacks to mini buses, and passports to monkeys!