Living Gallery - Miami Design District Magazine

Behind the Designs
Q & A:
The Study
of Space
Jeff Jones Brings His
Interest in Environment
and People to Design
Story by Debra Kronowitz
Photos courtesy of Jeff Jones
In an ongoing series, Design District Magazine
sits down with top creative designers to get a
glimpse into the creative mindset. In this issue
we spoke with Atlanta-based designer Jeff
Jones. With a special interest in how humans
react to their environment, Jones specializes in
the study of space and how people live and
relate to architecture. With an extensive background
in architecture and design, Jones has
carved a niche designing tables and lighting.
Working in a variety of mediums, Jones is also a
professional photographer and painter. His
designs can be purchased at now, A Style Store.
Q
A
How does your background in architecture
influence the creative direction of
your lighting and tables
I have dual degrees. One is in fine art and
the other in architecture. I studied space
and human connection and interiors. At
one point in my life I took a hiatus and collected
antiques and objects, often times bringing new life
to thrown aside pieces. My work is exciting, at least
to me, in that I work with scale, color, texture, sculpture
and found pieces in creating my furnishings
and lightings. I feel as though my past has come
together as one discipline.
How do you create the design direction for
each collection, whether tables or lighting
Usually it begins with the discovery of some
object or pattern, which eventually becomes one
of the editions in my line. Although I am offering
a line of furnishings and lighting, they are really
“editions.” I can make hundreds of pieces within
a line, but every piece is slightly different as each
object from the collection is slightly different.
What are interesting sources of inspiration for
your designs
I love texture, especially older worn and weathered
texture; and I love color, especially pattern.
What is the process you go through when you
begin the creation of a new product
There really is no process. The object is discovered
and the twisted brain can’t stop repurposing.
How do you bring your interest in how humans
react to their environment to your designs
Through scale, height, width, touch, warmth,
interest, color, attraction, lighting and shadow.
Humans react to scale. If they sit, then scale is
brought down to that level. If they are walking
into a space, then volume, opening up, closing
down a space. Humans are attracted to light.
A person will react immediately to an object or
wall that is washed with interesting or warm
light versus a room that just has lighting in the
middle of the ceiling shining down and
becoming lost in the void of space. I once did
a study where, unbeknownst to the people in
the room, on a cold and dark day the power
was shut off in a room and candles were left
in the space. Someone immediately lit a candle
in a far corner and the entire room of
people gathered and huddled in that lowly lit
corner. It was very cool.
What do you love most about what you do
My creative urges are completely fulfilled every
day. I really have fun every day.
Any new collections on the horizon If so, can
we get a sneak peek
In the past year I’ve been working with tobacco
sticks and organ pipes in my lighting. In an
upcoming line I’ve combined the two. I am also
doing an interpretation of my flat bar X table in
slabs of reclaimed oak, black walnut and heart
of pine. It will debut in the Verellen Home
Collection showroom in High Point, NC, in April. ◆
46 Design District