An art school drop-out recovering from a motorcycle accident, Tom Dixon discovered welding trying to repair his motorbike. This means of ‘killing time’ became a career as Dixon made the segue into limited edition welded furniture (including the S Chair and Pylon Chair). Nearly thirty years later, ‘Tom Dixon’ is a household name in the design world. From bamboo fiber to marble and blown glass, the self-taught designer is now well versed in a variety of materials.

Bead and Top. Designed by Tom Dixon.

Bead and Top pendant lights are part of Tom Dixon’s new collection, made from heavy weight, extra-thick pressed glass. The forms draw on the process of glassblowing, specifically the molten globules of glass pulled from the furnace when they are ready to be inflated and formed. “These lights bear the unique marks of the industrial manufacturing process and are exceptionally hardwearing and satisfyingly heavy.”

Top and Bead. Designed by Tom Dixon.

Top. Designed by Tom Dixon.

Bead. Designed by Tom Dixon.

His reputation for trying out new materials and applying industrial ideas to high-end design still applies today, and his Bead and Top pendant lights serve as perfect examples. “I am still mainly motivated by materials and processes but these preoccupations evolve,” he explained in an interview with the Design Museum. “Some days I work as a designer, but the bits that really interest me are the invention, engineering and marketing rather than the actual process of designing. I think that effective designers tend to be interested in the whole chain. Robin Day, Verner Panton and all those people really felt that they were going to change everything through design. It’s a very humbling way to look at it.”

The pendant lights will be available in January 2010. Also check out Dixon’s Slab collection and Screw tables.