When the work became tactile
2025 Year in Review
Umber is a creative media studio centered around art, design, and music. Through publications and live events, we amplify creative narratives and create space for shared experiences to be explored and re-discovered. This year marked a defining moment for Umber, one rooted in leading with our truth, guided by passion and curiosity. It was also the year we put language to what has always been at the core of our work: We Are Living Culture.™
At the beginning of the year, we intentionally locked back into our origin story and set out to rediscover our why. Why Umber? Why now? While Umber officially launched in 2017 via Kickstarter, the idea has been ruminating since 2006. Nearly twenty years in, the work required a pause for articulation and alignment around values. As the year unfolded, that focus was tested. 2025 was chaotic, uneven, and uncertain for independent media and creative workers. In moments like this, building culture from within is rarely convenient. But it is necessary.
Umber exists where the past and present converge, where Bauhaus design meets ’90s hip-hop culture and Nat Geo. As described in our Umber Digest zine:
Recline on an Eames lounge chair on your grandma’s porch while listening to Gang Starr, Weather Report, and Doechii.
From that foundation, we set out to define this moment by living culture.
Umber is committed to long-form storytelling that values care, authorship, and permanence. The print experience is intentionally artistic and experimental—designed to be tactile, layered, and collected. That commitment also extends into live programming, where dynamic creatives share not just what they make, but how they see the world.
In 2025, that commitment took shape in two defining ways. The Umber Talk Show brought Umber’s editorial voice into live storytelling, where creatives are the celebrities. Guests like Vadia and Damon Packwood also appear in print, reinforcing continuity across formats. At the same time, Umber: The Collage Edition coffee table book was completed, a cultural achievement not just for Umber but for the global community it represents. At 240 pages, with 15 interviews, four editorial pieces, and more than 20 contributors spanning Oakland to Osaka, Baltimore to the Dominican Republic, the edition reflects years of relationship-building and shared vision.
That vision became tangible on Saturday, December 20, at the Collage Edition Release Party in Oakland. People didn’t just see the magazine—they touched it and experienced connection through tactile media. Contributors found themselves and their stories archived in print, some for the first time. In that moment, the publication was permanent, collective, and shared.
Moving forward, Umber’s focus remains clear: print media and live events. These are the spaces where engagement is most deeply felt within our community. By leaning into what we’re passionate about, we stay true to what makes Umber distinct and continue building with intention.
2025 Milestones
Built with creatives through the Burntsienna Research Society’s 2025 winter cohort and a Los Angeles activation in September
Gathered industry feedback to refine Umber’s long-term vision, direction, and cultural positioning
Launched Umber Digest as a tactile preview of Umber’s evolving editorial voice
Produced the Umber Talk Show in Oakland during SF Design Week, marking a major step into live storytelling
Strengthened Umber’s social media through story-led strategy by Imagine World’s Tairran-Shari Greene
Released the Umber Media sizzle reel created by filmmaker Courtney Payne
Completed and launched The Collage Edition with a public release party celebrating contributors and community
2025 Partners
Afro.Frame | Burntsienna Research Society | Built Here | Design Bay Area | Gold Palm | Hemlock Printers | Imagine World | Mama Dog Studios | SF Design Week
Looking Ahead
In the year ahead, The Collage Edition will begin hitting newsstands, extending its life beyond the release moment. A live Umber event in New York will carry the work east. This momentum leads into The Surreal Edition in Summer 2026, as Umber builds toward its 10-year anniversary in 2027.
— Mike Nicholls
Founder, Umber
