The King of Color Comes to DC

Design luminary and ASID Fellow Jamie Drake was recently in Washington, D.C., to speak to a gathering of fans and fellow designers at the National Building Museum where he discussed his exuberant color sense, taste for glamour and eye for telling detail in projects that include the Kips Bay Show House and exclusive private residences.

While Jamie is perceived as a residential designer, he always has at least one big commercial project going on at all times. Aside from his envious portfolio of landmark projects, Jamie is best known for his bold use of color — something for which he’s always had a talent. His father owned a printing business and his mother was a painter, so his creative signature is in his DNA. This was evidenced in Jamie’s presentation, which included samples of detailed interiors sketches that he created when he was all of 11 years old.

Designers have said that Jamie can teach you how to get out of your comfort zone. Annie Elliott, Associate ASID, who named her Washington, D.C. firm Bossy Color, in honor of Jamie, says “My colleagues and I remarked on the fact that even when we didn’t love the particular colors in a room — apricot walls in Gracie Mansion for example — we could see why those choices were made, and we could appreciate the room as a whole. I hope that seeing a broad range of palettes employed so elegantly will inspire us to be more open-minded and inventive.”

On his open-minded approach to design, Jamie says, “Look, it’s better to be known for something than not known at all!”

(Pictured: Jamie Drake, FASID, with ASID VP of Marketing and Communications Kelly Nelson)