Believe it or not, this is an ad campaign.
The Tulalip Tribes initially engaged us to develop a fentanyl prevention PSA targeted toward youth. The crisis was immediate. Like many communities across Indian Country, Tulalip was seeing the impact of synthetic opioids firsthand.
But as conversations unfolded with Tribal leadership, public health teams, youth workers, and elders, it became clear that a traditional awareness message would not be enough. The dangers of fentanyl were well known. The need was for something different: a system that helped people talk to each other before a crisis — and that respected how difficult those conversations can be.
“Social and emotional disconnection between Tribal members and peers, families and communities can lead to substance abuse and can exacerbate mental health challenges.
This campaign should stand on Tribal values to promote reconnection and ways to create a healthier and more prosperous future for generations to come. We will create an interactive campaign that will focus on the unique and universal strengths of the Tulalip Tribes, providing a narrative of empathy and praise alongside the mechanical and emotive tools needed to move the many complex needles that define what it means to be “happy.”
The root of the issues we’re helping solve is trauma. The continued passion and love taught by our ancestors is the thing that has and will continue to help the Tulalip Tribes thrive.”
The Brand
The Capture the Daylight name is drawn directly from a Tulalip story, How Daylight Was Stolen, as told by the Hibulb Cultural Center. In the story, Raven and Little Mink work together to steal back the sun, returning daylight to the people after it was taken and hidden away. The story is one of cleverness, resilience, and the shared responsibility to bring light where darkness has settled.
We wanted the visual brand to reflect that. We didn’t want to whisper. We wanted to be bold, like our main characters. The colors draw from Tulalip’s official palette, but slightly muted. The imagery is grounded in the iconic canoes — and, less obviously, in the murmurations of ravens.
It’s usable, recognizable, and reflects a vision of community health as people you would want to stand next to in troubling times.
The Stories
As part of the platform, we are conducting and preserving long-form interviews with youth, elders, staff, and community members. These conversations do not follow a single script. Some discuss personal experiences with loss and risk. Others speak to culture, leadership, family, and wellness. Together, they form a record of how the community is thinking about behavioral health and resilience in this moment.
One phrase has emerged across multiple conversations: “We must survive so that we can teach others.”
The interviews are not intended as public service announcements or awareness spots. They are documentation — creating space for reflection, language, and perspective that may serve future families, programs, and leaders. Each voice offers a slightly different way to approach conversations that are often difficult to begin, but essential to sustaining long-term wellness.
The Backbone
The Capture the Daylight website serves as the central digital platform for the campaign, housing interviews, interactive tools, program resources, and partner content. The site is structured around four core content areas that organize materials by topic and audience need:
My Clarity focuses on substance use, drug risk education, harm reduction, and prevention.
My Health provides resources for physical health, emotional wellness, suicide prevention, and behavioral health.
My Future supports education, entrepreneurship, leadership development, and long-term opportunity pathways.
My Safety addresses bullying prevention, physical safety, online safety, and navigating digital life.
The platform allows individuals, families, and providers to easily navigate to the most relevant information as needs evolve. New resources, interviews, and partner programs are added as the platform grows.
The site is live and in active public beta at www.capturethedaylight.org. New content, interviews, and program materials are being added as community partnerships expand. The work reflects a simple principle: better to launch a useful tool and grow it in collaboration than to wait for a perfect, finished product that may never arrive.
