vipp lighting

Exciting news from Vipp. The launched a new serie of products: lighting.

Love to see that the lamps breathe the Vipp DNA and atmosphere; black steel, round shapes, simple and clean lines. It's a timeless design, just like the famous bins, and made of high quality materials. It's a Vipp.

Thank to Vipp, we are aible to present a Q&A with the designer of Vipp, Morten Bo Jensen:

How were you inspired to do a Vipp lamp series?

We often discuss if our brand values can be brought to life in new product categories. That is really, what creates the foundation for launching new products – we never launch a product that is not in complete coherence with our values and that does not bring something new and usable to the marketplace.

In the lamp world, we observed a rather frustrating tendency; that manufacturers use integrated LED light sources in most lamps, which means that you will have to discard your lamp if the light bulb breaks, since it cannot be replaced. At the same time, the quality of light is less than impressive because LED technology is still in development, and when the light source is fully integrated, you do not have the option of updating to a new light bulb as technology develops.

So because we at Vipp strive to deliver design that is long-lasting in both functionality, quality and aesthetics, and designs that are not stuck in a certain trend, we almost felt obliged to enter the lamp game.

What is the vision behind the lamp series?

Our vision was to design and develop a timeless series of lamps based on a high quality in both craftsmanship and materials. Furthermore, we wanted our customers to be able to update the light quality in their lamp as technology develops.

And we wanted to solve the problem of light bulbs not always being pleasant to look at. We did that by hiding the bulb behind translucent glass (not acrylic).We also wanted to give an alternative to the traditional choice between a lamp that sheds light directly downwards leaving the rest of the room in the dark and a lamp that sheds light very broadly in the room. By designing a perforated lamp screen, we found the perfect match between soft light shed across the room, eliminating sharp shadows and contrasts, and soft light diffused downwards without you having to look at an ugly light bulb.

How was the development process?

It was fun, exciting and very educational. We have taken a lot from our more than 75 years of experience in steel manufacturing and respect for functional details. With that approach we ended up with a result that isn’t only a lamp but a lamp that is 100% Vipp and that is founded in the same principle as the rest of our products.

Because we want to avoid our lamps being stuck in a certain trend, we have spent a lot of time developing them and making them timeless. Had we designed a series of lamps in trendy brass, marble and smoked oak, we would have had to make a lot of compromises on our brand DNA, and we would have ended up with a product that is quickly replaced by the next trend. The ambition is that the lamps and their design should last as least as long as Holger Nielsen’s original pedal bin, which is 76 years old.

How are the final lamps different from your first thoughts about how they would end up?

There isn’t much difference actually. We always think long and hard when we start out designing a new product, and we make a lot of conscious deselections out of respect for our brand DNA. And that is absolutely vital to us. As a brand, the starting point should be that you develop a product that lives up to your brand promise. From there, it is about developing and maturing the product. So we have had hundreds of iterations of perfecting the final lamps.

What is so special about the Vipp lamps?

In short: the details of craftsmanship, the high quality of materials, the opportunity to update the light source, the translucent glass that hides the light bulb and the perforated shades that allow for a soft diffusion of light.

How does the future look for the Vipp lamps?

Hopefully it is a long, bright future. We have already gotten good response on them. Maybe we will launch one of more versions of the Vipp lamps in the future, but we will not be developing more designs. It is a principle for us to only develop one product per category. Because once you have tried your best and captured good light, what else is there to achieve in a lamp?