30 Years of Light
In May 2015, Lumino celebrated thirty years in the lighting industry. Founder Andrew Small is still at the helm of a company that has reinvented itself many times since its inception in 1985. Andrew recalls the early days of the company fondly:
“We launched the company at the Interior Design International show in May 1985, and absolutely nobody knew us. But by the end of the show, the design fraternity, the target market Lumino had to reach, was clamouring for the limited edition posters of the new Lumino logo.
We had signed up the UK distribution rights for the Ansorg, Lamperti and Candle lighting ranges in 1984 but quickly realised we needed a brandname for this new venture. The original operation was run through my father’s company HWS Contracts, so I approached branding specialists Newell and Sorrell, now Interbrand, to create a whole new idenitity. John Sorrell and his team worked quickly and developed a whole mythology around the invented name. They also created our original logo, a face with the letters of Lumino making up each facial feature. I remember hating the early versions and wanting something precise and high-tech but then I started to love the new Lumino face and it worked fantastically for us.”
John Simmons, former verbal indentity director at Interbrand writes about the mythology he created for the Lumino name in his book We, me, them & it: How to write powerfully for business -
“The name Lumino sounded right, but it was an invented name, drawing on the Latin word ‘Lumen’ for light. So Lumino - as my story went - was the name of the beautiful young mortal man who was loved by Selene the Godess of the Moon in classical mythology. But her love was unrequited, because Lumino rejected the Godess’s advances. In a fit of anger she struck Lumino dead with a shaft of divine light. No sooner was the deed done than remorse overcame her. She pleaded with Zeus, who touched by her story, made Lumino immortal by turning him into a star, one of the brightest in the night sky.”
The face logo served the company well for almost ten years before being replaced with a less fashion oriented identity with the mythological Lumino name living on. Lumino has seen many other changes over its 30 year history and today is a manufacturer of high-specification architectural lighting products with the same focus on design and quality that has always been a part of its DNA.
To mark its 30th year, Lumino is organising an epic charity fund-raising cycle challenge to the town of Lumino in Switzerland. The ride will raise funds for the GravityLight Foundation, bringing light to people who don’t have access to electricity. Andrew explains his feelings about the way the company is marking its birthday:
“We are passionate about light and lighting so what better way to mark our birthday than to help those without light. GravityLight is a great charity and we’ll be pedaling hard to help them this year.”
