Umpqua bank hosts the inaugural evening for SF Design Week's kick off. They sought the engagement of 18 Reasons, a community cooking school, to host the evening. For two years, I was asked to bring the tablescape designs, as a conceptual project to draw together the theme of the festival and a farm-to-table private chef meal for the community.
What is interesting about Umpqua is that they have their own unique branded experiences, making deep investments in local communities by hosting not only events, but also co-working spaces available to those in the community, free coffee and cookies, and other awesome perks for just existing. Pretty impressive.
In 2017, the theme for the design festival was "Question Everything."
I created long paper runners to extend across 50 feet of table space with matching placemats and menus with 1,000 questions. Menus were designed with Ouiji board motifs, shocked Barbarellas and more. Flower arrangements were both real and paper flowers in unison.
2016 was the year of craft. I dyed 60 napkins and runners with natural and foraged dyes. Flower arrangements were actually potless plantings of herb plants, with soil directly on the table. Menus were made of seed paper, and we chose flatware that was hand-forged and locally produced dishware by Mary Mar Keenan.