CORY REYNOLDS | DATE 7/22/2013

Rough-and-Tumble Glamour: Tom Dixon's 'Dixonary'

Featured image—of Tom Dixon's 2004 "Mirror-Ball Stand"—is reproduced from Dixonary, Violette Editions' deluxe new monograph on the celebrated UK product designer. Throughout the book, Dixon pairs his own designs with images of the objects, animals and ideas that inspired them, alongside idiosyncratic explanatory texts. For example, "The extreme rough-and-tumble of the music business is the inspiration for these adjustable and adaptable tripods, made to hold a multiplicity of lamps of different sizes in different layouts and to allow for realignment in angle and orientation. Imagine a drummer on the road with a band. There’s the constant erecting and disassembling of components and the relentless, heavy pounding of rock ’n’ roll drumming. Drum kits need to adapt to all types of playing techniques and body sizes—so the kit components themselves are a masterclass in heavyweight, long-lasting adjustability."