RMU Ski Collaboration

Em Deane Kelley is a Graphic Designer and proud female business owner of Locals Creative– a design studio based in Truckee,CA. Raised in rural Maine, her love for community and spending time outside led her to Truckee, California. Her motto outside of the office is “here for the parking lot beers” and she can be found skiing, mountain biking, hiking and enjoying bluegrass shows alongside friends when she’s not exploring the country from her van, alongside her husband and husky mix. 

When starting her business, she chose to plant her roots in the mountains to keep creative collaboration opportunities true to the nature that often inspires them. Through her work, she uses her business as a platform to advocate for community causes and the environment while serving on the Board of Directors for Slow Food Lake Tahoe, Protect Our Winters Creative Alliance and Mountain Area Preservation Business Member. Often found working from the road, her laptop can be found sprinkled with dirt and never too far from a trailhead or nature view to inspire her client, brand and personal work. 

"Behind each of my designs, is a handful of pages in a sketchbook most likely covered in dirt and coffee stains from dragging it around for when inspiration strikes. Connecting with nature on a walk with my dog or for a few morning laps jumpstarts my creativity in a way I can’t find sitting in an office– and has become a crucial step in my creative process. After the messy sketches, thoughts and scribbled notes make it to ProCreate, I work on creating digital illustrations of what is in my head while referencing photos (many times from my own camera roll) to create multiple concepts. Following countless Apple pencil strokes, erasing and repeating, I bring my illustrations into Illustrator to play with color, see the art at a larger scale and refine shapes to work for the end application– in this case, a limited run of skis.

This limited edition ski was inspired by the common phrase shared with me when moving to Truckee: “come for the winters, stay for the summers”. If you are lucky enough to live here, visit or have this place on your bucket list, you know that Tahoe is a picturesque outdoor playground year round. Its beauty is intoxicating and the opportunity for adventure is endless. After a decade of calling this place home, the feeling I still get at the top of KT22 or on the shores of Lake Tahoe, comes with an overwhelming sense of awe, gratitude and pride to have these places in my backyard. With a love for the area comes the responsibility to protect and advocate for it. Our beautiful outdoor playground continues to stay beautiful with the help of the community behind it and the respect of those who recognize these places are much bigger than how we enjoy them. With the outdoors ingrained in my DNA, through my work, I hope to inspire those around me to speak up and protect the places they love most."