As a tribute to King's founder, Darla King, whose passion for people and hospitality shaped the company culture, our team designed a dining room to honor her retirement. Darla had always wanted a space within the King showroom where clients, vendors, and partners could feel welcome, whether they were stopping in for a quick chat, collaborative design session, or a shared meal.
Process:
We had a tight 6 week timeline to complete this Dining Room as a surprise for Darla's retirement party. Working with an internal committee at King, I started by sketching out digital mockups to quickly learn what design direction the committee was looking for. The only elements the committee knew they wanted to include in the design were a picture of Darla and a painting that was commissioned for Darla.
Style Sketch 1
Style Sketch 2
After reviewing the initial sketches, the committee asked me to play with the graphic treatment of the image of Darla, add the company motto "Love Where You Work", and source custom shelves to curate with artifacts that highlight milestones, memories, and meaningful moments from Darla's career.
Round 1 Revisions
Revision 1 Revisions
Following the first round of revisions, I adjusted the mock-ups to include a mix of walnut wood type to tie in the wood of the shelves and bring more dimensionality to the space. I also brought in a wider mix of King's brand colors to reflect Darla's colorful personality and reduced the size of the brand grid to refocus the eye back on the artwork and artifacts.
Round 2 Revisions: Option 1
Round 2 Revisions: Option 2
Round 2 Revisions: Option 3
Final Selection:
The committee chose option 3 from our second round of revisions. While I waited on our production company to produce the vinyl graphics for us, I worked on curating photographs of important milestones, awards, and pieces of sentimental artwork, including a painting created by Darla herself. I installed this graphic and styled the shelves in 7 hours total the evening before Darla's retirement party to keep this a secret until the very last minute.
