LEX News
The Lumetta Team Talks About Design and It’s Latest Launch: The Echo Sconce
LEX News interviewed the President and Founder of Lumetta, Bill Prichett, and three members of the Lumetta design team: Bowen Wheatley, Stephanie Carlson, and Ryan Heelan to learn more about the Echo sconce, launching this week, and the secrets behind their success developing these innovative new luminaires.
1. This week Lumetta is celebrating the exciting launch of the Echo sconce. Can you tell me about this product and what makes it so unique?
The Echo sconce blends elements of geometry, pattern and light to create a bold and modern collection of luminaires that illustrate both the art of illumination and the idea that illumination can be art. The wall sconce is available in three shapes: lunar, slice, and slope and the surface of the fixture is outfitted with one of three illuminated patterns: shell, tech, or abstract. This new type of design delivers both illumination and texture into a space and produces an aesthetic that is truly unique.
2. The Echo sconce was designed as an extension of the existing Echo Collection, launched last February. Can you tell me how this new line of wall sconces complements the Echo pendants launched last year?
The sconces and pendants were developed to relate to one another in shape, pattern, and color, offering designers many options for creating dramatic and coordinated interiors within the Echo collection. In fact, the three shapes of the sconces (lunar, slice, and slope) were derived from shapes found within the patterns originally projected upon the drum of the Echo pendants. Both pendants and sconces are available in the same patterns (shell, tech, and abstract) and in the same six colors (Echo Grey, Echo Gold, Echo Onyx, Echo Navy, Echo Kiwi, and Echo Mystic).
As a differentiating feature, the sconces are available as either cradled or unbound. Cradled sconces include an architectural bent metal element that wraps around the midline of the sconce. The cradle is available in four finishes: Polo, Sandstone, Cyan, and Galaxy. An unbound sconce does not include the additional metal element.
3. Where did the inspiration for the Echo sconce come from?
From our customers. When we initially designed the Echo pendant, we did not intend to create surface-mounted Echo products. However, we were working with a designer on a children’s hospital in Dallas and the designer requested surface-mounted fixtures. While we were customizing the Echo pendants into surface-mounted fixtures for this project, we began exploring other options for creating surface-mounted luminaires that would complement and broaden our existing Echo collection.
4. What types of applications do you see as an ideal fit for these new Echo sconces?
We think that the Echo sconces could be incorporated into many different types of interiors. Like many Lumetta solutions, these products feature our proprietary diffuser material Lumenate®, which is washable and anti-microbial, making these fixtures a good fit for spaces where hygiene is critical. The fun and vibrant nature of the Echo sconces seem to naturally lend themselves to areas occupied by children, such as children’s hospitals, children’s museums, and schools. We’ve also had significant interest from the restaurant and hospitality industry. The Echo sconce is a beautiful and dramatic solution for any type of project where an architect or lighting designer wishes to create a unique and modern presence on the wall.
5. Do you have any suggestions for lighting agents looking for the best way to introduce specifiers to the pendants and sconces available in the Echo collection?
The way that the Echo pendant and the Echo sconce blend light, pattern and geometry is so unusual that a physical sample really is the best way to enable members of the specification community to experience it and understand the lighting environment they can create with this collection.
6. After 26 years as Designer and Chief, Bill Prichett passed the reigns to a new cross-functional team within Lumetta. Bill, what can the market expect to see from your team in the next few years?
The Echo collection, the pendant and the sconce, really are the products of this new design team. This young team has a lot of passion and energy and know-how and l would expect them to bring the market quite unexpected luminaires that use our proprietary materials in forms that will inspire and appeal to the designer inside all of us.
Click here to view the Echo sconce collection.