Founded by Justin Donnelly and Monling Lee, Jumbo is a young design studio based in New York. The duo has just unveiled its latest collection at NYCxDesign: Neotenic is comprised of pieces with simple, generous lines that are made using metal tubes.

The collection features four pieces: an armchair and three lamps. Each one is based on the same creative principle, designed using wide, curved steel tubes.

Formal simplicity

Jumbo studio chose to use curved steel tubes to create the four-piece structure of the collection. The resulting chair consists of two, very simple elements: an inverted ‘U’ -shaped element forms the rear legs, while the second, more angular, element forms the backrest and the front legs.

The three lights are comprised of the same tubular structure, surmounted by a satin-finished glass globe. The three lamps, a floor light, table light and sconce, have identical shapes but come in different sizes for varied use.

Repetitive, coherent design

The originality of the Neotenic collection comes from its simplicity, as well as its coherence and unity, not to mention its use of colour.

The four pieces are all crafted in a deep, dark purple. The intensity of the colour is accentuated by the use of a polyurethane paint, which achieves a glossy, lacquer-like finish.