My Collaboration with The Talbott Hotel

I recently worked on a project that I’ve been dying to share with you all. It was kind of a dream project, as I’ve always wanted to collaborate with a hotel. The fact that this project was with a historic hotel in Chicago’s Gold Coast neighborhood made it all the more exciting. For those of you who aren’t familiar with the Gold Coast, it’s probably my favorite area of downtown Chicago, located right on the lake. It has all the best shopping the city has to offer and some amazing restaurants. It’s just a short walk from Michigan Avenue.

The Talbott hotel approached me earlier this year because they were undergoing a renovation and reopening as part of The Autograph Collection of Marriot Hotels. This felt even more seredipitous because we often stay in Autograph hotels when we travel - mainly because I enjoy the design and story behind them as an artist.

As part of the reopening, the hotel was looking to rebrand with illustrated materials (from do not disturb signs, to welcome post cards, to their website content). When they approached me about working on the project, I was so excited.

To kick things off, we were lucky to spend a night at the hotel in February and experience one of their renovated suites. The room was GORGEOUS. We also had dinner at their restaurant Laurel. It was one of the best meals I’ve ever had. If you plan on going, their signature Gilded Laurel cocktail and their charcuterie boards were amazing. Talk about the most fun research I’ve ever done!

Ryan and Connor came with me, so we turned the trip into a little family getaway. You’d think we’d spend more time in the city given that we live in the Chicago burbs. In reality, we actually don’t get down there much. Ryan works from home and I prefer to work in my studio where I have all my supplies, so it was a fun treat to experience city life for a bit!

The historic exterior of the hotel - so inspiring!

Connor and I at the Laurel restaurant

Our son Connor in our room

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I started with sketches and the project took us several months from start to finish. It was a tight turnaround, but I really loved working on it. Below is most of the work I did. My illustrations can be found on their website too. I haven’t yet seen the print collateral, but I can’t wait!

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My favorite illustration of the project was probably this one of their patio at the Laurel:

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I also really enjoyed these exterior illustrations:

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I’m excited to report that this project isn’t over yet! I’ll be doing live illustrations at their launch party on 5/14, which I’ll also be sharing with you all. More to come on that next month!