Graeme Bettles Design: The Shy Lamp

WORDS Bibi Slippers

It is not often that one experiences a sense of emotional identification with a piece of furniture, but it takes one look at Graeme Bettles Design’s The Shy Lamp to know how this little guy is feeling.

The design seems simple, but the subtle mimicry of the human form in The Shy Lamp manages to capture and communicate a familiar mental state: You recognise a toddler hiding behind her mother’s skirt in the company of a stranger, or an awkward skinny-legged teenager standing alone against the wall at his first school dance.

Graeme Bettles, a former art director in the advertising industry, has found a way to translate the emotional connection between consumer and product – which is at the heart of a successful advertisement – into product and furniture design. His first creation, The Sitting Lamp, was a runaway success, emerging as one of this year’s winners of Samsung’s Inspire Design competition.

The original idea for The Shy Lamp was drawn up before The Sitting Lamp, but not one to naturally step into the limelight, The Shy Lamp hid in a to-do folder until Graeme started looking for a product that could follow on the amazing success of The Sitting Lamp.

“The inspiration came from the same period of time, the same chain of thought,” Graeme says. “Going back and forth discussing a worthy sequel to The Sitting Lamp, my wife and business partner Natasha suggested The Shy Lamp. It was a simple and obvious choice. But that’s the beauty of design; it takes a well-worn path to discover the new one right in front of you.”

Standing 400mm tall and made of solid beechwood, it will make the perfect desk lamp for anyone with a soft spot for a shy guy. We love it so much it makes us blush.