“The Post” O&W IN PRINT!
I wanted to find a fun way to promote my coffeehouse event in 2024 which felt like “front page news” to me… in classic O&W fashion, rather than trying to find something that fit my vision I decided to make something of my own.
This first experimental full size newspaper was inspired by timeless print, quality imagery, and bold modern typeface.
Featuring photos, poems, recipes, games, interviews, and opinions and ads from LOCALS ONLY. 😎
Building a paper trail of belonging
This wasn’t just a cute idea I saw in an Instagram reel.
In the past few years, I’ve printed a magazine for Older & Wiser Co., published a single-run poetry book, and hosted a plethora of events designed to bring people together offline—in spaces that feel human and warm, not just curated and clickable. That has ALWAYS been the heartbeat behind what I do: IRL.
The newspaper was the latest step in a longer, slower story I’ve been writing: A story about what happens when you give people something real to hold. How does that change the way we connect?
Though the vision was simple, to give people an alternative dopamine hit *sans scrolling, I truly didn’t know what I was getting myself into.
One idea led to the next, and my “simple list” turned into a dissection revolving around the question “what makes a newspaper and what about it do I love (and hate) the most?”
Reinventing Local News
The newspaper included:
Front Page Announcement about the next O&W Event!
Short essays and mini-interviews with local creatives
Funky crossword puzzle & wordsearch with artist resources
Bits of poetry and personal process reflections
Invitations to put down more roots locally via your dollar, your time, or your creative contribution and consumption.
“Ads” in a creative focused newspaper seemed irrelevant at first, until I recognized a few local businesses I purchase from in real life that are built on innovative ideas and entrepreneurial spirit.
Not only did this give me the chance to spotlight products I love and respect, it gave me the chance to interact with the people making them :’)
Every experience of photographing someone, their space, or a process, led to warm, invitational conversations that seemed to encapsulate the heart of what we were after. In our visit at Joy’s kitchen we came for a recipe but were served traditional masala chai and pleasantly disarming hospitality while our fruit crip (recipe feature) baked.
These experiences influenced the tenderness of the product, but really I believe they were quiet lessons for me personally. An affirmation that my north star is worth following, and great expectations are attainable, when the focus is on the relationships— not the end result.
In the end, this project was playful, intentional, and unapologetically analog. Like a love letter to everything digital storytelling can’t quite hold.
It was proof that we still crave storytelling we can touch.
Print isn’t dead, it’s patiently waiting for us to remember how good it feels to hold something with weight.
To each and every participant who let us take up time and space with you to create something real and meaningful to our little community, thank you. <3
What a joy it was making something that would last.
