Big Glow holds a number of rich ideas and influences in productive tension. First, it’s a classic, iconic design archetype – the glowing sphere – but with innovative new features. Second, it’s both uniquely Australian and global, with personal influences born of Studio Truly Truly’s Australian founders as well as their international design presence today in Europe alongside Rakumba. Then there are the innovative materials used for a unique blend of non-woven wool and bio-plastic, all the while maintaining inspiration from that one timeless source: the sun itself.
“The form is symbolic of the sun,” say Kate and Joel Booy, the Australian founders of Studio Truly Truly. “It’s a bold presence radiating light evenly throughout a space. It can be dimmed down to a cosy soft glow, bringing the sun indoors.”
More specifically, it’s the Australian sun, and the natural settings of Australia more generally, that have inspired the new product. Kate and Joel explain further: “Growing up in Australia, we both experienced a plenitude of sunlight. In sunny Queensland, the struggle can at times be too much light! It’s a powerful white light, present much of the year. It wasn’t until we had lived in Europe for a little while that we realised deep down, on a subconscious level, we were yearning for the sun.”
After some time in Europe, they explain, they also learned to enjoy various forms of gentle light. “Low-lit interiors felt intimate and cosy, while gentle sunlight offered a calm alternative to the bold sun of our homeland. These two experiences played into the design of a softly glowing light with a bold presence,” say Kate and Joel.
Aesthetically, Big Glow keys into an image of rural Australia, with non-woven wool bringing something of an expression of place to the lighting design. “After a long period of development and testing, non-woven wool was arrived at as the material for making the pressed panels that form the light,” explain the Studio Truly Truly pair, who also draw attention to the product’s traceability. Indeed, Big Glow would hardly have been possible without the support and expertise offered by Woolmark, Australia’s global authority on wool.
“The wool is sourced in Victoria, processed into wadding and pressed into the panels at Rakumba – also in Victoria. Experience of the sun in different parts of the world was at the root of the inspiration for this project. The image of Australian sun over a rural landscape, home to the sheep from which the wool is sourced, was to us and Rakumba the perfect summation of the light’s story.”
The sun-drenched rural nostalgia of these aesthetics is then juxtaposed with the innovative, sustainable approach to materials. Studio Truly Truly has used a biodegradable, renewable blend of non-woven wool and bio-plastic to achieve a cosy, warm and luxurious glow.
“It creates a beautiful, natural material quality which is especially enhanced as the organic fibres become more visible when the light is switched on,” note Kate and Joel. “Big Glow is special in that it features two lighting functions – it emits an overall glow which can be independently dimmed, as well as engineered downward illumination which provides stronger task light.”
More than just a light, however, Big Glow is also designed to have notable spatial effects in very different settings. The collection ranges from a globe diameter of 650 millimetres to 1.1 metres – making it possible to create a highly impactful and dramatic presence in a space. Kate and Joel conclude: “Used in multiples or a single bold statement, its presence – like the sun – is to be felt.”
