Designer's diary: where did Lippe originate?

Lippe is celebrating a milestone birthday soon! It's almost a year since I founded the company. And I'm turning 33 at the same time. To celebrate (and just because it's fun to share my stories with others), I thought I'd start writing a blog here!

In this first update, I will tell you why I founded the company and what inspired me to design lamps like this.

I graduated as an industrial designer in the spring of 2024 and immediately started looking for jobs in the field. I did a bit of theatre work on the side, which I still do from time to time, but I couldn't get any jobs in my field, and there weren't many available. It was frustrating. Of course, I was also constantly afraid that I would lose my skills and that no one would hire me later on because I had no experience in the field.

I have always been a dreamer, but also a realist when it comes to working life. I thought back when I was a student that it would be great to be an entrepreneur and design exactly what you want. On the other hand, I thought that you could hardly support yourself with it, or at least I wouldn't be able to do it. My own experience of ability has always been tested a bit by the fact that I haven't felt like I fit in or belonged to any norm, and I'm used to questioning what I do, because learning has always been challenging for me.

However, I decided to try and founded Lipe. Before making my decision, I considered whether to start designing jewelry or lighting. Jewelry was and still is one of my biggest interests in design work, but I had already developed an idea in my head during my studies about certain types of lighting and that I would like to make them out of acrylic. So I chose lighting and also thought that what was stopping me from designing jewelry at some point, if I felt like it. (By the way, I designed my own jewelry set and a hat rack for my thesis at school, but they were also made of plastic.)

Acrylic interested me as a material largely because it is available in many different shades, it is durable and relatively easy to manufacture. I also think acrylic is a really beautiful material for lighting and the feel that comes from that surface...

So the biggest inspiration for my lighting came from my childhood, i.e. the 90s and early 2000s. And inspired by this time, I didn't just think about lighting at that time, or actually not at all, but I thought about the vibe that was there back then. Everything felt so cool. Spicers, scented gel pens and erasers, super balls, marbles and inflatable chairs, mobile phone charms and interchangeable covers for the 3310 mobile phone. I could list these wonderful things from that time endlessly! But the first thing that comes to mind for me is the colors and transparent plastic things from the 1990s and 2000s.

The 70s aesthetic has been another guide. I didn't want to have to choose between either of these eras, but rather wanted to bring elements from both into my design. The colors, architecture, and interior design of the 70s are all over the place now, and of course they speak to me too. I like the flamboyance of that era.

Inspired by these elements and this nostalgia trip, I first designed the Origins collection, where the lamps are made of Satinice acrylic, which is spatially transparent and the surface slightly sparkles in the light. The shapes in all these lamps are relatively spectacular, because I wanted the lamps to not be neutral, but real interior elements that can arouse opinions. This gave me exactly the cool feeling that I experienced from things as a child.

I wanted to include more retro colors and cuteness in the minimalist list. I also wanted to diversify the selection so that there would be lamps available in small and large, colorful and more neutral colors. The lamps in the collections also have their own stories, but I can tell you about them later in another post.

The end result is a collage of things that make you feel wonderful. <3 And an eager future design entrepreneur on the first day of school in the early 2000s!