Challenger BMX Magazine

Client/Employer
Personal

Year
2017–Present

Overview

Challenger is a personal project of mine. It’s so personal and important, it feels strange to promote it for fear it might veer into any semblance of selling it out. But this is a prime example of a project that I’m good at: large-scale with a consistent through line.

The Magazine

Pretty obvious statement, but the magazine, which took its form in newsprint, was the driving force for this project. While it’s fun to make graphics and merchandise, I grew up reading magazines with a strong POV: Slap, Dig BMX Magazine, Fridge, and Thrasher. Later on I sought out pioneers of oddball lifestyle magazines like Grand Royal and Dirt.

These magazines, backed with my long obsession with short-run zines, was my inspiration for Challenger.

From 2017–2022, the magazine was published regularly. Since then it has been sporadic and taken different forms, like one-page monthly newsletters.

At its height, Challenger’s subscriber base was in the hundreds, it was sponsored by dozens of bike shops and, notably, Vans Shoes.

Not bad for a bedroom operation in the Midwest.

Graphics

The magazine has never really had a true logo per se; I always found it more fun to experiment with the nameplate and the graphics.

These took the form of nameplates, stickers, t-shirts, and more.

Here’s a selection of the graphics.

Merchandise

The magazine has never really had a true logo per se; I always found it more fun to experiment with the nameplate and the graphics.

These took the form of nameplates, stickers, t-shirts, and more.

☮

Last update: February 13, 2026