TPD 114 in Linear Pendant | Blackjack Lighting

TPD is a long cloud of glass. Thirty clear 8-inch spheres hang from a slender canopy nearly ten feet long, each on its own fine cable and each at a different height, so the globes drift in a loose, bubbling band beneath a straight line. It is meant as a statement: over a long dining table, a bar or a reception desk, it reads like a stream of bubbles rising through water, caught and held still.

The clear glass is what gives it its character, and the LED is what makes the clear glass work. A small integrated source glows at the top of each sphere, cool enough to sit in closed glass and compact enough to leave the globe almost empty, so each one becomes a lens that catches highlights and reflections of the others. Thirty of them together produce a warm, sparkling light with real depth. The random pattern is set at the factory, and the finish of the canopy and sockets, Matte Black, White or Polished Chrome, decides whether the line above reads boldly or disappears.

Design notes

• Warm sparkle: an LED in each clear glass sphere creates many small highlights rather than one bright source.
• Long, light composition: 30 spheres in a factory-set random pattern beneath a 113.1 in (287.3 cm) canopy.
• Clear glass globes: 8 in (20.3 cm) spheres that stay transparent and airy when unlit.
• Slim canopy: three 37.7 in sections joined into one line only 6 in wide and 2.5 in deep.
• Three finishes: Matte Black, White or Polished Chrome on canopy and sockets.

Specifications

Downloads

• TPD specification sheet (PDF)
• TPD 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!" TPD carries that into a long statement piece: thirty clear spheres, each holding a tiny LED, drifting beneath one slim line.

Questions

What is the design idea behind TPD?

A long band of clear glass bubbles under a single slender canopy. Thirty spheres at random heights give one fixture the presence of a chandelier and the lightness of a cluster.

Who designs Blackjack Lighting?

Industrial designer Stephen Blackman, President and Chief Design Officer, who has designed lighting since 1984 and founded Blackjack in 2013 to make fixtures built around LED.

Which finish should I choose?

Matte Black draws the canopy as a crisp dark line above the glass; White lets it vanish into a white ceiling so the spheres seem to float; Polished Chrome adds reflections that multiply the sparkle.

What is the light like, and can it be dimmed?

2580 lumens in total at 3000K with a 90 CRI, a warm, sparkling light seen through clear glass. It dims 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.