DESIGNER | PAUL MARR-HILLARD With experience that includes sculpting and blacksmithing, designer Paul Marr-Hilliard’s artistic dexterity originates from a hands-on approach to work. Drawing and observing, always fascinated by the way things work, his conceptualization process takes three-dimensional form through maquettes and metal prototypes. Paul gathers inspiration for lighting designs from real life experiences, his love of Vermont, and collaboration with fellow designers. “There was first a process of experimentation with small metal sculptures. I had the idea of movement through a volume of space—as if scrawling out or painting a complicated letter form with a large brush. In the slower turns, the brush stroke gets fatter then accelerates in a different direction and thins out.” “All of the designers lovingly referred to it throughout the development process as the Graffiti. It was a nickname that stuck and won out in the final naming. It was just a perfect fit. “The end design became smooth and free-flowing. The lamping feels a bit industrial, jutting in and connecting the forged metal ‘calligraphy’.”