The Columbian
Client
The Columbian
Services
- Director
- Director of Photography
- Photographer
Year
2025
Category
Brand Campaign
Overview
The Columbian has been telling the Pacific Northwest's story for over 130 years. They needed a brand campaign that honored that history without getting buried by it — content that showed the paper as part of people's lives, not a relic of the past.
Challenge
The Columbian needed to speak to two audiences at once — the loyal print readers who've had it on their doorstep for decades, and a younger generation that's never thought of a newspaper as part of their day. At the same time, the digital edition needed to be surfaced without undercutting the print product. The challenge was building a campaign that honored the physical paper while opening a door for people who'd only ever known news on a screen.
Solution
We leaned into a slower moment — the weight of the paper in your hands, the ritual of the morning read, a reminder of a time before every headline was fighting for your attention on a glowing rectangle. The campaign romanticized that tangible experience: real people, real homes, the paper as an object worth holding. Woven through it was the story of The Columbian itself — 130 years of showing up for this region, every morning, without fail. That legacy wasn't background. It was the argument.
The Approach
We didn't build sets or cast talent. Every location was a real home, every reader a real person. The paper had to earn its place in the frame the same way it earns its place on a doorstep — by being worth something.
The press floor — where it starts.
Behind the scenes.
3
Crew Size
3
Shoot Days
6
Locations
Film + Photos
Deliverables
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