From design to lampshade is a long process. It’s all done in my workshop in Phuket, Thailand. This is not a factory or sweatshop, but a nice little studio with five talented and experienced artists creating the lamp shades one by one, from start to end.
The great thing about having a studio and working in Thailand is not just the great weather or the low labor costs. Thai people are famous for their handicrafts and are really precise when it comes to details. Their patience and skills are clearly visible in our lampshades.
Of course the low labor costs are also an important factor. We do not have any pressure to work as fast as possible to save labor costs and every piece is made with the attention that is required to deliver a good product. When we worked in Belgium, we also had to add up high taxes to our selling prices, which made the lamps rather expensive. Now, we were able to drastically lower our prices, which only benefits our clients. Our designer lamps used to be sold in lighting and interior shops in Europe 3 to 4 times more expensive as now.
I would also like to point out that the low labor costs and lower profit margin are not due to any workers in a sweatshop or factory line, but due to the facts that the costs of living are low in Thailand. Our craftsmen are not unskilled laborers, but trained artists and we are proud to give them a nice working environment, a decent living and a good income that is a lot higher than the average salary here in Thailand. I am first of all an artist and not a business man.
The most important element of creating our designs is the talent of our artists. I invested many years in optimizing the entire manufacturing process, the techniques we use and the equipment, but our lampshades would never be of this high quality without the dedication and talent of our craftsmen. All but the protecting epoxy layer is made by one person from start to finish and they all deserve to be proud of their work.
The lighting designs are created with a unique combination of new techniques that are used in different phases. All the lamp shades, the designs of the collection as well as the exclusive items, are handmade. They are not made in a factory process, but a piece at the time by talented and experienced craftsmen. This is a very time-consuming process and requires a lot of patience of the artists.
There’s a very major difference in the techniques of creating the suns and the moons. The sun is more about the shape and the moon is more about the drawing and relief. The flames are made with a combination of both of these unique techniques and the custom pieces could include anything. It is an impossible task to describe our techniques in general.
The technique and the combination of materials we use are new and therefore don’t have an official technical name yet. Laminate is plasticized pressed wood. Our material isn't exactly the same because it isn't pressed wood pulp, but still, its glued paper that is made of wood anyway, and through the dry process is then pressed. After that it's finished off with a layer of epoxy, which is kind of plastic, so I guess the best name for the end material would be laminate.
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