David Quarles on Seeing Music, Designing Emotion, and Turning Hardship into Joy

What if you could hand your designer a playlist and they could build your entire room from it? David Quarles IV is a multi-hyphenate creative—interior designer, jewelry maker, content creator, and Zumba instructor—with synesthesia and chromesthesia, which means he doesn't just hear music, he sees it. Colors, patterns, textures. A full kaleidoscope. And for David, that's not a condition. It's his design language. He talks about the second-grade teacher who recognized what was happening in his brain before anyone else did, how growing up in a household of musicians, jewelry makers, and perpetual redecorators shaped everything he does, and why he asks clients to make him a playlist before he ever picks a color. He explains color drenching, the emotional logic behind every space he designs, and why he wants people to feel saturated in joy the moment they walk through their door. David also opens up about the corporate detour that took his creativity away—and why losing it gave him a deeper love for it. He shares what's next: Puerto Rico, Studio 417, boutique hospitality, and a slower chapter that, knowing David, won't be slow at all. He only remembers his childhood in summer. No winters. That's the world he's trying to build for everyone else. Follow The Market Makers wherever you get your podcasts for more stories of transformation from the people shaping how we live, work, and gather.