A creative advertising agency called Fellow had contacted Rau + Barber’s Stephanie Rau to see if she wanted to shoot for the Hewing Hotel’s website launch.
Welcome to 300 Washington Ave. where you can check into a century-old brick and timber warehouse that has been converted into a 124-room, 13-suite hotel. The Hewing Hotel guarantees an exceptional rest and travel experience as their guests can enjoy a year-round rooftop experience, business amenities, a fitness center, pet-friendly rooms, and rustic Nordic-inspired cuisine at the hotel’s renowned restaurant Tullibee.
The image library for the launch was composed of two rounds of shooting. The goal in the first round of shooting was to create unique and inspiring images for Hewing’s new website. Rau + Barber had shot the hotel’s first images a year before the renovations were complete with Creative Director, Karl Wolf. The first round involved photographing a model room while the rest of the hotel was under construction. During the second round, Junior Graphic Designer, Cody Harleben joined forces with Karl and Stephanie to document the finished interior spaces and the hotel’s amazing design details.
During pre-production, Stephanie created a detailed shot list so she could stay organized and timely during the hotel shoot. With a large shot list and a short amount of time to accomplish it, this planning time was essential. The team also ended up shooting the project before Christmas, which added some additional logistical challenges to their schedule with crazy holiday activities going on around the city.
The team had to juggle the lighting installation while rooms were being staged. There was a lot of excitement and energy in the hotel as everyone was preparing for opening day.
The Art Director and I did all the prepping of props in advance so we had set a tone when it came to the actual big shoot. To date, the hotel launch has been very successful and is the hippest boutique hotel in Minneapolis.
The Hewing Hotel loved Rau + Barber’s first images. Stephanie’s favorite part of working on the launch was being with the Art Directors and experiencing how creative, helpful, and collaborative they were. She worked well with them as a team which helped her know where to invest her time to get a great shot.
Rau + Barber is waiting for the rooftop deck and pool to be finished so they can follow up with some more photographs. They also would like to check out the hotel in the summer and hopefully spend some time hanging out. This high-profile project has already led Rau + Barber to other interior projects. They just received a call this past week from a client who found them through Wonderful Machine.
See more from Rau + Barber’s work on their website.
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