The making of

The Polka dot

A glimpse into

THE DESIGN PROCESS

It started, as many of our pieces do, with an interesting, unexpected material. We've always been drawn to glass – the way it catches light, the weight of it in your hand – but we wanted to do something different with it. What if, instead of adding to the surface, we took something away? The idea was simple: buff circles into the glass to create a polka dot pattern. The reality was a little more complicated...

"I'm always drawn to a fresh take on a classic design. The polka dot glass took a lot of back and forth in production, but it's a subtle detail that creates a real point of difference." - Matilda

From the first sketches to the final product, the polka dot collection has been two and a half years in the making. There have been many iterations along the way - samples where the dots were too uniform, too scattered, too many, too few... Getting the polka pattern right took longer than we'd expected.

Three shapes

A TRIO OF LIGHTS

We landed on three shapes: a large pendant for making a statement, a small pendant for clustering or tighter spots, and a flush mount that sits snug to the ceiling. The small and flush are IP 44-rated (a first for us) meaning they're splash-proof and safe for bathrooms and covered porches. Suddenly the places that usually get overlooked in the lighting department (utility rooms, along a hallway stretch, dark corners by the back door) have practical, beautiful options too.

Behind the scenes

Shooting the collection

We shot the polka dot collection on a dark winter's day in East London. Simple sets, coloured gels, sheets of acrylic and acetate layered in and around the frame. The whole shoot was about experimenting – playing with texture, light and colour to see what the dots would do. Some of the best moments were complete accidents.