DART St. Louis

Corner of Union and Highland, a favorite photo on the DART St. Louis website.

Have you ever dreamed of throwing a dart at a world map and going to that location? Or, as a child, did you spin a globe with your eyes closed, drop your finger to a random spot and fantasize what it would be like to go there?

The teams at FK Photo and TOKY Branding + Design created a popular event that made that dream a reality: DART St. Louis.

Last April, as a part of STL Design Week, the St. Louis creative community was invited to FK Photo, a well-known commercial photography studio. Inside their sleek 12,000 square foot rehabbed warehouse in the city's midsection, more than 250 designers, art directors, photographers and illustrators took turns throwing real darts at a large projected map of the city. The intersection where the dart landed became their destination. The dart-thrower had a month to find his or her assigned corner of the city and return with a photograph that made that spot come to vivid life.

Each dart throw brought a donation of $5, with the proceeds going to Rebuild Together St. Louis, a local affiliate of the national not-for-profit dedicated to revitalizing local neighborhoods. The Throw Party raised over $2,500 for the organization. A month later, the community came together again for the Presentation Party, where all of the photographs were revealed to the public.

The DART St. Louis website, built by TOKY team members, features all 150+ images that were shot, as well as images from the Throw Party. Collectively, they paint a portrait of some of St. Louis's lesser-traveled places and the people who live there.

Since the site went live, TOKY has heard from other cities' AIGA chapters, which are considering this event. If DART comes to your city, please let us know, and share the results on Design Observer!

Dart St. Louis was made possible by many volunteers and interested organizations. A special shout-out goes to Curt von Diest for organizing the event at FK Photo studios, and to Heather Holbus in Chicago for the brilliant idea.