SSD 48 in Pendant Light | Blackjack Lighting

SSD is less a fixture than a field of light. One hundred Short Frosted pendants, each a small 3-inch cylinder an inch across, hang from a single square canopy four feet on each side, and every one drops to a different height. Seen from the side, they form a loose, shimmering curtain; seen from below, a regular grid on the ceiling dissolving into a scattered cloud of points as it falls.

The contrast between order and randomness is the whole idea. The canopy is a calm, flat square built from four 24-inch modules, with the 100 ports set on an even 4.8-inch grid; the pendants beneath it ignore that order and settle at random, like rain caught mid-air. Each pendant is lit by its own LED behind a frosted diffuser, so the cloud glows softly rather than glaring, while together they add up to 8,600 lumens. In a lobby, stairwell or double-height dining room it becomes the main event, and the finish decides its mood: Matte Black for a graphic, nocturnal look, White for a light and airy one, Polished Chrome for sparkle.

Design notes

• Order and chance: a strict 10 x 10 grid of ports above, a random cascade of 100 pendants below.
• Small, soft sources: each 1 in (2.5 cm) x 3 in (7.6 cm) pendant glows through a frosted diffuser.
• A floating plane: a 47.8 in (121.4 cm) square canopy only 2.5 in (6.4 cm) deep.
• Quality of light: 8,600 lumens in total at 90 CRI, with 2700K to 4000K available from the maker.
• Adjustable cascade: pre-set to 72 in overall, field adjustable to a maximum of 102 in.

Specifications

Downloads

• SSD specification sheet (PDF)
• SSD installation instructions (PDF)

Stephen Blackman and Blackjack Lighting

Blackjack Lighting is the studio of industrial designer Stephen Blackman, its President and Chief Design Officer. Trained in industrial design at Syracuse University, Blackman began his lighting career in 1984 at Sonneman Design Group, then founded Blackman Design Associates in 1988, designing decorative and architectural lighting for manufacturers including Kichler. He launched Blackjack in 2013 in suburban Chicago, now based in Buffalo Grove, Illinois, to build fixtures conceived for LED from the first sketch.

His argument is that the LED should change the shape of a light, not just its efficiency. Rather than hiding a new source inside old bulb-and-shade forms, Blackjack designs around the small, flat, cool-running LED: thin discs, slim rods, glowing rings and lenses that let the light itself become the object. In his own words, "Decorative lighting by its nature is not primarily about optimizing lamp efficiency, it is primarily about decoration!" SSD multiplies that idea a hundredfold, turning tiny frosted LED sources into a single cloud of light.

Questions

What is the idea behind SSD?

It plays order against chance: a precise square canopy with a regular grid of ports, and 100 small frosted pendants that fall from it at random heights, forming a glowing cloud rather than a conventional fixture.

Which Blackjack collection is it from?

SSD is part of the Signature Series and is built from Blackjack's Short Frosted pendant on four 24 in Quatro-style square canopies.

Which finish should I choose?

Matte Black makes the canopy and pendant caps read as a dark graphic cloud; White keeps everything light so the frosted glow dominates; Polished Chrome adds reflections across the cascade.

What is the light like, and how is it controlled?

Soft, diffused light from 100 sources, 8,600 lumens in total at 3000K and 90 CRI. The 120-277V drivers sit in the canopy and dim with TRIAC, ELV or 0-10V controls.

What warranty does it carry?

Three years on the integrated LED and its power supply, and one year on materials and workmanship, for the original buyer in the US and Canada.