In the Spotlight: Exploring the Luminol collection by Joe Paine
Johannesburg based designer Joe Paine founded the award-winning Joe Paine Studio in 2008, where he creates the most exceptional products and furniture.
His latest collection, the Luminol range, was released in November 2021 at the Always Welcome store in Hyde Park, Johannesburg.
With Luminol, Joe showcases his signature use of steel and used materials such as rolled steel, chrome and lacquer in his creations. The collection features two standing lamps - the Luminol Chrome and Silver Standing Lamp - three table lamps - Sarah Silverma’am, Myrtle Wide and Silver River, and two Hook Wall-mounted lamps.
Joe feels that the Luminol lighting range marks a new period for him. ‘I feel I am at the shores of a sea change in my work. Well, I hope so. I need to change and am currently reskilling into new technical capabilities that will allow me to make more interesting products and keep me more interested. I can only hope that as I get older I don't get stuck into similar patterns of success and failure.”
In the exclusive Q&A below, we chat to Joe about his inspiration for the Luminol range, his favourite materials and colours to work with and what we can expect from the creative in the year to come.
House & Garden: Tell us about the inspiration for your Luminol range?
Joe Paine: I tried with this range to put one foot in the past and one in the future by using classic Italian and Scandi forms combined with colours that are typically associated with the future. I am hoping the result will resonate through the typical shapes and colours found in lighting today. I wanted to add the colour purple which is referenced from Luminol. Luminol is a purple chemical used by forensic investigators to reveal trace amounts of blood left at a crime scene. When it reacts with blood, luminol emits a chemiluminescent purple glow that can be seen in a darkened room... gross.
H&G: What is your earliest memory of design?
Joe: As a child, I remember a friend of my parents had recently purchased a set of Barcelona Chairs that they were very proud of, and on the day of the chairs' display I had drunk too much sweet sweet strawberry Nesquick and vomited upon the fine leather. Mies van der Rohe would not have been pleased, well, nobody was.
H&G: What are your favourite materials and colours to work with?
Joe: My favourite material at the moment would have to be aluminium. It can be very temperamental, but I enjoy working with it specifically for that reason. It is soft and scratches easily, but when it is spun the tool leaves beautiful spin lines creating a wonderful texture unique to each part. I am currently experimenting with anodised colours with my supplier. The bright pink, silver and deep purple are looking pretty good.
H&G: How do you currently describe your design style?
Joe: A rigorous focus on logic, utility and inventiveness, combined with an underlying current of playfulness.
H&G: What are your main sources of inspiration for your creativity and designs?
Joe: Materials, processes, history and the future. These may all work together or singularly and manifest themselves both unconsciously and consciously.
H&G: What more can we expect from Joe Paine in 2022?
Joe: I am currently exploring a new process that I hope will be a springboard in a new design and product direction. New products that are still hopefully still inventive, aesthetic and fun to use.
The Luminol range is on display and available for made-to-order purchase at the Always Welcome store in Hyde Park Corner, and via the online store. For more on Always Welcome you can email press@alwayswelcome.store and follow them on Instagram @always_welcome_store and Joe Paine @joepaine_studio.