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Over Bare Edison Bulbs? These Textured Lighting Ideas Are on Our Radar
The lighting studio Bone Simple Design, founded by Chad Jacobs, is innovating in the realm of lighting fixtures by incorporating texture and color through unique dyeing and painting techniques. Located in a 100-year-old industrial building in Long Island City, the studio now occupies a space formerly used by luxury fabric house Scalamandré for textile dyeing. Jacobs finds this serendipitous, as his current work involves similar processes with lighting components.
Jacobs, who launched his custom lighting line in 1993, has recently expanded into dip-dyeing and painting large rope pendants and using shibori-inspired methods for linen shades. This creative shift was notably demonstrated when he completed 15 five-foot-tall string fixtures for a hotel in the Bahamas, where the cord was immersed in golden yellow dye. Jacobs emphasizes that for him, lighting is not solely about illumination but also significantly about texture, expressing a clear preference over the minimalist bare bulb aesthetic.
Operating from a 5,000-square-foot ground-floor space, Jacobs leads a team of seven employees, predominantly from art backgrounds. The team meticulously handcrafts all components, outsourcing only metal plating and powder-coated frames. Jacobs strategically designed the studio's layout, ensuring junction boxes were installed to allow for the suspension of numerous fixtures, providing ample light for work and displaying dramatic pieces for clients. A notable display piece is a massive hanging white cage pendant lamp, hung low to showcase its impressive dome shape, though Jacobs advises a 30 to 36-inch clearance from tabletops in typical installations. He also suggests diversifying lighting arrangements with a combination of wall sconces, floor lamps, table lamps, and ceiling fixtures to achieve optimal control over light levels within a space.
Jacobs's creative inspiration is drawn from a vibrant mood board adorned with art show posters, sketches, and photographs of design icons like Ruth Asawa, whose wire sculptures are a significant influence. The mood board also features a South African artist's necklace, a colorful piece that has recently informed Jacobs's bold color palettes and experimental design approach. For achieving a wide range of colors, Jacobs uses commercial-grade Rit Dyes, which are versatile enough for natural and synthetic fibers. He notes that these dyes can be mixed to create custom hues, with paper towel tests guiding the intensity. When painting rope and string fixtures, the team employs wide, flat brushes for thorough coverage. Linen shades are preferred for dyeing due to their excellent absorbency, and while silk hasn't been tested, it is believed to be equally effective.
Jacobs's technique for creating unique linen drum shades stems from a desire to utilize leftover dye, involving rolling and folding the fabric before dyeing. This process, loosely inspired by Japanese shibori, is simplified and allows for dye bleeding, often resulting in multi-tonal effects. He describes these outcomes as "happy accidents" when successful, indicating an embrace of experimentation in his design process. The article encourages readers to try these techniques themselves or explore Bone Simple's existing range of colorful lighting options.
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