Eldon Trace started, as most things do, at a friend's house.
There was a lamp in the corner. Tall, thin, and doing its absolute best. In the evening, it cast a glow that was genuinely beautiful. During the day, it looked like a broomstick that had given up. Nobody had moved it. Nobody talked about it. It just stood there, waiting for dark.
The name comes from two places. Eldon is my father's middle name. Trace is what good design does: it leaves something behind, a feeling, a memory, a reason the room felt different that night. I make modular lighting fixtures that are meant to do both jobs well. Bold enough to hold their own in daylight. Warm enough to make you stay at the table a little longer than you planned.
These are pieces built to evolve with you. To show up at the dinner party, survive the apartment moves, and eventually feel like they were always supposed to be there. Light shapes how a space feels before anyone says a word. I just think it should also look good while it's doing that.
Anyway, that broomstick is now covered.
Dylan
A: 1990
S: He/Him
L: Denver, CO
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Eldon Trace started at a friend's house, in front of a lamp that was genuinely beautiful in the evening and looked like a giving-up broomstick during the day. Nobody moved it. It just stood there, waiting for dark.
That bothered me more than it should have.
Eldon is my father's middle name. Trace is what good design does: it leaves something behind. I make modular lighting fixtures bold enough to hold their own in daylight and warm enough to make you stay at the table longer than you planned. Pieces built to evolve with you, show up at the dinner party, and eventually feel like they were always supposed to be there.
Anyway, that broomstick is now covered.
Dylan
A: 1990 S: He/Him L: Denver, CO
-
Eldon Trace started at a friend's house, in front of a lamp that was genuinely beautiful in the evening and looked like a giving-up broomstick during the day. Nobody moved it. It just stood there, waiting for dark.
That bothered me more than it should have.
Eldon is my father's middle name. Trace is what good design does: it leaves something behind. I make modular lighting fixtures bold enough to hold their own in daylight and warm enough to make you stay at the table longer than you planned. Pieces built to evolve with you, show up at the dinner party, and eventually feel like they were always supposed to be there.
Anyway, that broomstick is now covered.
The Process
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Start with the Space
We ask about the room before we talk about the fixture. What it needs to do, how it lives in daylight, and whether there's already a broomstick in the corner we should know about.
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Design for both Hours
Every piece is built to hold its own at noon and set the mood at midnight. Bold enough to be intentional. Warm enough to make people stay a little longer than they planned.
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Make it Modular
Modular means it moves when you do. Rearrange it, add to it, let it grow with the space as your taste and your life change around it.
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Leave a Trace
The goal isn't just a fixture you like. It's the one people ask about at the party. The light that made that night feel like that night.