One man army. Pablo Pardo is a Venezuelan designer who set up his own shop in San Francisco in 1993.
Since then he has been nailing the market for simple, useful designs in lighting, modular furniture and accessories.
We were amazed to find that so many recognizable objects were the product of one person's brain. Our current favorite is the Io Task Lamp (pictured after the jump) which not only swivels and bends, it telescopes out another 6" when you need it.
Other picks? The Ventana Lamp ($275) we blogged awhile back, the Elise Lamp ($95) we see in every hip home store in the city, ditto that for the Uno Paper Bin ($42), made of one thin sheet of plywood, and the Vela Mirror($95).
i purchased a few pieces directly from pablo a few years ago, and he was great to deal with. he even delivered a rather large lamp to my office (which meant risking a parking ticket!). we get quite a few compliments from guests re. his pieces. they're both beautiful and functional.
but my favorite item of his actually isn't a light; we have a pair of the tom-tom seats/storage units. they are so handy. i store yarn in one, and fabric in the other. and of course, it's extra seating in our office for when people are hanging out.