Creative work, as I have learned, is about narrowing down ideas into a sort of funnel, chipping away at the medium, and message and business, and finding out exactly what it is not. Sometimes, in this situation, what it actually is, is staring you right in the eyes, but you need to dig deeper to find out what it is to see it.

With Stumptown Lodgings, a company that before previously had no roots, the creative direction I needed to tie everything together came from the history of the name itself.

The name "Stumptown" is a nickname for places that grew so fast, they left stumps poking out of the ground to save on time pulling them up. During the 1850s, new towns were booming. People traveled across the country in wagons to California, and settled in forests down the coast. These towns sprouted faster than the grass could grow, with new houses going up and tree stumps left behind. These towns were filled with cowboys, farmers, steelworkers, gold miners, travelers. These towns were bustling, raucous and often rowdy.

A 1800s vibe did the trick.