Merchandise Design for the NACIS Cartography Conference

I was elected by my peers to serve on the Board of the North American Cartographic Information Society (NACIS) in 2024 for a two year term. At the end of the second year, a Board member needed to step down one year into their term, and I ran for and was elected to this additional one year term, which will end in October of 2027.

I serve on multiple committees in NACIS, including Nominations, Survey, Fundraising and Development, and DEI. I am also the Chair of the Shop committee. In my role for the shop, I have introduced new types of merchandise to our online store and in person at the conference.

Online-only merch has included shirts, shorts, a variety of hats, patches, drinking vessels, and even a teddy bear with an 'I heart maps' shirt.

In-person merch for 2026 included zippered tote bags and conference t-shirts with a front pocket and back logo design (the back designed by Nick Lally). These were locally printed by a union printer in Milwaukee, the location of the conference for 2026. I also took on a creative project to hand-print 30 shirts with the NACIS logo. I thrifted these shirts (for both sustainability and financial reasons) and carved the NACIS logo using linocut. I then used screenprinting ink to print 30 different designs. All of these in-person merch sold at the 2026 conference, in addition to some smaller items. NACIS faced a financial burden due to unexpected costs related to website development, and my merchandise has helped to improve the financial standing of this prominent cartography organization.

supplies for linocut printing of nacis shirts
online-only nacis merch including a cropped sweater, hat, shorts, patches, water bottle, and fanny pack
hand-printed nacis shirt using the linocut method
in person conference merch for 2026 including a shirt, tote bag, stickers, pin, and luggage tags
image of practical cartography day giveaways: a carabiner, coaster, and screen wipe

I have also been the co-host of Practical Cartography Day, the first day of NACIS, for the 2024-2026 conferences. We always give out a free swag item for PCD, and I designed the merchandise for the past three years, including a screen/glasses wipe, a felt coaster, and a mini carabiner. These are both a popular item and a difficult design challenge, as we want to give out something that is actually useful, while also keeping costs under $200 for 250 items.

Lily Houtman wearing a camo hat with the word NACIS in blaze orange, designed by Lily