Talents Shine in New Lighting Designs
What happens when a couple — whose combined talents include graphic design, photography, marketing, hospitality, big ideas, sales, woodworking and engineering — get together? If they are Adam Policky and Dawn Hagin, of Portland, Maine, they wind up founding a studio that makes unique and beautiful lighting.
The couple met in 1994 when working for the same graphic design company in San Francisco. They went on to start Rare Brick, a firm that specializes in photographing, branding and marketing boutique hotels. While they excelled at this work, "I needed to work with my hands and I'd had enough of sitting in front of my computer for eight hours," Policky says. The hospitality industry inspired the new venture, as some of their first commissions were to design site-specific light fixtures for their boutique-hotel clients. Thus, Inspired Wire Studios was born.
The couple now designs fixtures for a variety of clients, from their original hospitality clients to private owners and retail and gallery spaces. Combining Hagin's tendency to say, "Wouldn't it be cool if..." with Policky's photographer's knowledge of light — and an ability to make just about any idea come to life — has resulted in a collection of unique and truly inspired pieces.
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The couple met in 1994 when working for the same graphic design company in San Francisco. They went on to start Rare Brick, a firm that specializes in photographing, branding and marketing boutique hotels. While they excelled at this work, "I needed to work with my hands and I'd had enough of sitting in front of my computer for eight hours," Policky says. The hospitality industry inspired the new venture, as some of their first commissions were to design site-specific light fixtures for their boutique-hotel clients. Thus, Inspired Wire Studios was born.
The couple now designs fixtures for a variety of clients, from their original hospitality clients to private owners and retail and gallery spaces. Combining Hagin's tendency to say, "Wouldn't it be cool if..." with Policky's photographer's knowledge of light — and an ability to make just about any idea come to life — has resulted in a collection of unique and truly inspired pieces.
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As for guidelines, the client had a cherry maple dining table and wanted uniformity throughout the open space. "The client actually sent us a CAD file of the entire building, so I was able to put each light into a 3-D model to check the scale," says Policky. Rectilinear shapes and warm woods carried through all of the light fixture designs, providing continuity, in spite the fixtures' very different looks.
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These JFG Wall Sconces are another wonderful blend of metal and steel and rectangles and curves. A welded steel frame surrounds a cherry wood panel with a delicate bird's-eye maple inlay. Perforated steel cages curve around the bulbs. Policky and Hagin are big fans of Marconi lightbulbs, which emit a beautiful warm glow.
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This two-drum JFG Chandellier ($1,260) over the dining table is a fantastic combination of metal and wood. It also floats in an eye-catching way, reiterating Policky's interest in the physics of suspension.
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The major fixture in the entryway was one of Hagin's "Wouldn't it be cool if..." ideas called The S-Curve. She originally sketched out the design on a napkin. While her original design had a metal curve winding around two drum shades, a change was made to fit this site.
"Because this was for a hallway that leads down to a common area, we needed it to be a dramatic piece," Hagin explains. In this entryway, the six pendants provide more drama and lend a rhythm to a space meant to be moved through. At 68" long, the S-Curve ($3,480) is rather heavy, but Policky's knack for physics allows it to hang from the center of the piece without wobbling. Two extra hanging points eliminate spinning. |
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Moving on to another residence, we spy the Bulbs in a Cage Drum ($640) in the entryway. It holds a half dozen Marconi lightbulbs in a perforated drum. They can transform the room depending on the amount of other light and the time of day. "The O-shapes in the steel create short vertical lines all over the walls and the ceiling," says Hagin.
"I added the wood veneers (at the top of the cylinder) because I wanted to do something different than what was expected," says Policky. This size serves as a dramatic light in an entryway. They have a smaller version in their own home. |
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So, what does the future hold for Inspired Wire Studio? "Building out our own studio has been a labor of love," says Hagin. The business is growing and the couple are looking to make this their full-time gig.
Hagin and Policky enjoy the advantages of living in Portland, which, in addition to its beauty, include a community of artisans and city support for small businesses. They hope to expand and employ more craftspeople to help them manufacture their work. I look forward to seeing what they do next. More: Sculptor Susan Wallace Turns Screen Doors Into Art Design Tastemaker: Jared Rusten Tastemaker: Asaf Weinbroom, Lighting Designer |
