An Overnight Success

Sornkrit Thongalarm knew his Bangkok, Thailand-based restaurant needed to change, and needed to do so quickly. Although its food was decidedly upscale, the restaurant – Im Mee Pee Mun by Jakkajan – was failing to gain mass appeal. Part of its problem: It lacked color and life with its bare cement exterior and dark, wood interior.

An avid art lover, Sornkrit wanted his restaurant to showcase artwork and become a gathering place for other art enthusiasts. He found two artists, Oh Futhog and P7, whose eye-catching graphics would help represent his vision of modernity and convenience, then opted to incorporate these vibrant graphics into every detail of the renovation. “We wanted to create something different,” Sornkrit explains.
He partnered with Thamnaksilp Advertising Company, which houses an HP Designjet L25500 printer with Latex inks, and Hewlett-Packard itself, which donated all of the ink and media, to turn his restaurant dream into a reality.

When all was said and done, the Thamnaksilp crew had produced graphics for the interior as well as the exterior of the restaurant, including wallpaper, tabletop graphics, curtains, and even aprons, coasters, menu covers, and posters and invitations announcing the restaurant redesign.

And, because closing down the restaurant to redecorate simply wasn’t an option, Thamnaksilp installed all the graphics over the course of a single evening. “Within one evening, the work was done. It was like getting a new place overnight,” says Thongalarm.

Since the transformation, traffic to the stand-out hotspot has continued to increase as its vibrant exterior draws in passersby to take a closer look.