About me
After graduating from BA Graphic Design at Central St. Martin’s in 1996, Rhonda went on to start the design consultancy Multistorey [www.multistorey.net] with Harry Woodrow. With Rhonda at the helm, Multistorey became known Worldwide for it’s innovative work in the fields of branding, art direction, packaging and exhibition design. With a strong knowledge of process and craft, whether traditional or pioneering, and a personal interest in interior design, Rhonda began to develop products and work occasionally in spacial design. In 2009, Rhonda joined forces with Lulu Roper-Caldbeck to launch Darkroom, a platform for their own collections and curations of work by international designers and craftspeople. In July 2015, Darkroom launches an interior design and styling consultancy.
Darkroom is an independent online shop and design label, with 2 shops based in London. Our flagship store is on the beautiful Lamb's Conduit Street and our second is in Selfridges department store. Our goal is to provide a stimulating antidote to the generic and bland, whilst also recognising the basic human desire for beauty and comfort. We believe that good design should be accessible to all and can come from the most unlikely corners of the world.
We’re drawn to graphic contrasts, the geometry found in tribal patterns, and the structural simplicity of modern and postmodern design. Our ranges are an eclectic mix of handmade accessories for men, women and the home, including bold jewellery, objets d’art, graphic prints, textiles, stationery, homeware, soft furnishings, leather goods, bags and more. Whilst some of our pieces naturally lend themselves to either men or women, many items are apropos for both.
We champion emerging and undiscovered designers and artisans in order to bring together our large range of exclusive items, special commissions and our own Darkroom Collections. Through unique collaborations and our own output, we aim to present a unified aesthetic across a continuum that celebrates craftsmanship, colour and texture, with a genuine respect for creators and an engagement with design traditions.
Darkroom is not like other design shops. Since 2009 our signature black-walled space has been the backdrop for distinct yet complimentary pieces to come together. Rejecting regular principles of merchandising by genre and gender, we prefer to create dynamic, mixed installations based on texture, colour and form. A visit to Darkroom encourages lingering, getting lost and discovering something new.
Projects
- Constructive LivesConstructive Lives is a West London shop selling furniture and interior accessories. Initially approached to design just the visual identity, we proposed to the owners that we take on the entire art direction of the shop including the interior design and fit-out, the external cladding and all the printed and online requirements. Our concept was led very much by the shop's location on Portobello road — an area with a diverse cultural community and strong and vibrant visual identity, the shop pre
- UnpackagedUnpackaged is a London café, bar and grocery, selling the majority of its products without packaging. After giving shape to their first incarnation in 2007, we were commissioned to design their new, larger 160m2 space in Hackney, with a very small budget and an (as far as possible) eco build. Our visual keys were a utilitarian 1950s pre-supermarket era of local grocers and busy high streets; coupled with Mediterranean café influences, inspired by the Spanish food and wine at the core of chef Kate de Syllas’ menu. This is manifested in our palette of rich ochre, inky and duck-egg blues, dusky coral with more vibrant tomato red, sunflower yellow and turmeric. Three primary materials were used: Marmoleum for the ziggurat patterned floor, marble off-cuts for the bar and counter tops, and pegboard for the walls and wheeled room dividers. These create abstracted booths and visual breaks between the 40+ seats and tables, bringing intimacy to the originally quite cavernous space. A motley crew of salvaged and collected chairs and stools were stripped and painted black, creating unison and an informal texture to the landscape of the space. Without the budget to physically alter such a large and awkward façade, we decided to embrace the strange grid of windows and multiple doors, creating a bespoke typeface which expands and contracts to fill each window unit, with a condensed version used throughout the shop for signage and labelling. The original jar logo has been updated and is joined by a wine glass, knife and fork and coffee cup.
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Work history
Director
Owner
Skills
- Corporate Identity
- Print Design
- Art Direction
- Set Design
- Creative Direction
- Interior Design
- Product Design
- Concept Development
- Graphic Design
- Visual Styling
Education
Graphic Design
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