Behind Shellby. Story, message, or both?
Interview with the designer of Shellby, Jeffrey Huyghe
We’ve had the pleasure of working with Jeffrey for many years, and have seen more than one beautiful creation wander outside his mind. The sensual curve of Semih, the charming futurism of Marbul, Dent’s diagonal line cutting across its sleek surface. Today, we’re looking at Jeffrey and his story with Shellby.
Birth of Shellby
“For timeless designs, I like to work with geometrical shapes and pure forms. That’s how I started with Shellby. The challenge was to fit a sphere into a volume, as it determines the size of the volume that holds it. I played around a lot to fit the sphere and ended up positioning it off-center.” The overall design looks like a spiraling shell or an oyster with a pearl in it. This inspired the name Shellby.
Despite always beginning his designs on paper, Jeffrey quickly goes to digital and begins experimenting. “I like to put the product directly into an interior and see how I can play with it, within a specific application.” Playful is indeed the word, thanks to Shellby’s asymmetrical design.
Mind-blowing and hand blown
“Shellby also likes to play tricks. The glass ball looks as if it’s floating and you’re not sure you’re looking at a sphere or a flat circle.” The sphere doesn’t protrude from the body, thanks to its deep-recessed design. And this, in combination with the opal glass diffuser, creates visual comfort, perfect for general lighting. Shellby’s other trick is that just when you think it’s a general light, it can become a mood maker, by simply dimming the light. Also available in Warm Dim.
Jeffrey likes working with durable materials. Shellby’s body is powder-painted aluminium and the diffuser is made of hand-blown glass. To create the right diffusivity and strength, Shellby’s glass has 3 layers. The outside layers are transparent and the middle is opaque, which makes the glass white. “I like that each Shellby is unique because of the artisan process it was made with.”
Fun fact
On the back of Shellby, you’ll notice a little extra something. An inviting message, adding to its playful personality. They say devil’s in the details. We say, no actually, it’s Jeffrey.