When I challenged our president and partner Sonny Park about the prices in our 2012 product release she pointed out what should have been the obvious.

The problem she said is that you refuse to make any compromise on the quality, the engineering standards or the materials that we put our lighting. You simply put too much into the products that we build.

I found myself explaining why I do that. Over the years we have developed a system of core beliefs that drive our commitment to building products.

We are devoted to creating the extraordinary, with quality and refinement. We believe that creativity, innovation, and commitment to excellence begins with design and continues in every aspect of everything that we do.

We believe in Functional Products designed from an intelligent point of view.
We believe that good design works well.
We believe in the elegance of simplicity.
We believe that great design endures.

It is hard to build things well… but much harder to not do so. For me, It is the legacy of and the value of our effort.

Robert Sonneman Blog 11/27/11

In a society that values money above ability and respects wealth above talent it is no wonder that making things well became less revered and less aspirational to succeeding generations.

Acquisition is the idol that we worship at the alter of capitalism. But often those who have attained most are left empty by the process because the value created is only the sum of their positions.

Respect and self esteem are powerful motivators which we derive from the gratification of the process and the product of our work. I believe that it is more satisfying for wealth to be attained through the effort of creating something of intrinsic value that we feel good about and take pride in, as opposed to simply manipulating a system to our numerical advantage.

Generations have worked with pride at various trades and crafts passing down acquired skills as their legacy to those who followed. It was the natural order of survival and the university for the young who followed the old. With the knowledge of a craft well learned came the pride of a job well done and the gratification that comes with creating value from ones personal effort.

What I would say to the young is: Don’t chase money. Create something of value and let money chase you.

Find something that love to do and do it well. Allow your passion to drive your ambition. It will become your life’s work and your identity. Money comes and goes. It is good to have but in the ups and downs of life, for most of us, the passion for doing what we love and believe in survives the ebb and flow of financial fortune.

Nov 20, 2011, Robert Sonneman
In the world of the perfect, attention is drawn to the imperfect.

When I showed my partner David a new elegant and ultra simplistic design which glorified the tension between two simple elements of different scale his eye was immediately drawn to the smallest imperfection in its right angle connection. Therein lies the difficulty and the challenge of making the perfect in an imperfect world.

Simplicity is difficult to make perfectly. That is the challenge of the Modern Idiom. Modernism struggles to sustain its minimal vision and execute its demands in the real world.

Building a form with perfect seamless transitions often requires complex
contrivance to be concealed, which is counterintuitive to the vision of simplicity.

With no trims or moldings to hide connections and seams, building the perfect wall, that sustains its perfection over time is nearly impossible or at least incredibly expensive. So too is the challenge of fabricating functional products of simplicity in appearance. We are constantly confronted with difficult engineering solutions to conceal the mechanical or structural elements. There is simply no place to hide. Unlike ornamental design which elaborates and glorifies elements and their unions.

Modernism emerged from the notion that simplified forms made from industrial processes would make products less expensive and more available to the masses. In fact the iterations of the original modernists such as Mies Vender Roe, Marcel Brauer, Corbusier, and others became the art objects of the elite.

Our vision grows from the modern experience to an extended language of design that makes superb products relevant and available. In so doing we are challenged to reconcile the technical with the practical and the ideology with the reality.

Modernism and its social ideals was in fact a place to start and not a conclusion. What we make of its origins is a continuing journey of investigation and discovery.

Robert Sonneman
Oct 25, 2011

The shift from craft to technological has exploded opportunities and transformed lighting into a whole new industry.

LED technology is attracting young educated and talented engineers, designers and artists, who are rejuvenating and reinventing the lighting we once knew to an industry we never contemplated.

LED illumination is real science in electronics, energy, optics, chemistry thermal dynamics, lightwave color modulation are all in consideration for the practitioner in LED product development and application.

The convergence of Art and technology is pervasive in the emerging LED illumination universe. Designers are using electronic illumination to create kinetic art. Product designers and manufacturers are discovering LED provides the basis to change the size, shape and application of luminaires.

Look my followers and who I follow on tweeter and discover incredibly interesting and talented companies pursuing illuminating innovation. http://twitter.com/#!/RobertSonneman

Attend any lighting show in Asia, Europe or the U.S. and be prepared to be overwhelmed with hundreds of manufacturers and sellers of LED illumination tech, devices and applications. The real test is to sort out the
innovators and the credible producers from the commodity sellers.

For the past three years we have studied and invested in the understanding LED technology. We are now applying our knowledge to innovating product design, creating form factors newly possible because of LED scale and output. The process is energizing and creatively challenging.

We are pursuing the application of science and the expression of art.

Sept 13,2011
Creating value makes design relevant. Faced with the economic circumstances and the China manufacturing challenges we focused on creating products that could deliver design value. Its a good example of “…necessity being the mother of invention.”

Anticipating China inflation and rising prices we did our best to hedge its impact by developing relevant products and by investing heavily in inventory six to twelve months before we came to market.
Modern Lighting Essentials, MLE, are cleanly designed functional lighting products at moderate prices. www.sonnemanawayoflight.com

After a couple of months off from the NY- China commute I am preparing to return to China next week. Inflation continues to drive prices up but the pace has slowed just a bit from its 6.5% 37 month high in July to 6.2% in August according to the National Bureau of Statistics last week. This cooling is not just a result of market forces but also the efforts of the Chinese authorities to maintain tightening overall credit supply to tame further price rises.

Although slowed slightly, prices continue to rise in the face of an increasingly challenging market. Bringing design value to market will require us to focus on the essentials and to drive product solutions from innovation, and investment. But, now more then ever, value is critical to making design relevant.

http://www.sonnemanawayoflight.com/blog

Congress defanged the enforcement of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 by voting last Friday to withhold funding for the portion of the 2007 law that increases efficiency standards for light bulbs.

The effect is to render mute the 2012 requirement to produce the equivalent of 100 watts of illumination with 30% less energy and to gradually, in two annual incremental phases, require that efficiency be extended to lower wattage bulbs.

While the industry has spent the better part of the last three to four years developing new products and technology to comply with the federal standards of the 2007 law, congress has removed, de facto, the requirement to comply.

As a manufacturer we knew that integrating more efficient technology into our line would be difficult but would open new areas for innovation and product development.

Bob Tedeschi, N.Y.Times, 8/11/11 article: “Almost Time to Change the Bulb” comprehensively outlines the “… rapid advances in a number of lighting technologies” triggered by the “looming rules.” His article presents the amazingly, complicated and often confusing assortment and variety of choices available to the shopper of todays light bulbs.
www.nytimes.com/2011/08/11/garden/almost-time-to-change-the-light-bulb.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=almost time to change the bulb&st=cse

Lighting consumes 70% of our energy production. As such, Lighting efficiency is a legitimate component of any national energy strategy. It should be a focus of the initiative. The rules have driven innovation and provided incentive to develop and adopt new technologies.

The congressional action to withhold funding for enforcement is a disincentive and confusing message. After years of effort, and investment to comply we are told by congress that …they were just kidding, they were not really serious about the mandate.

If we as a nation are ever to re-achieve our international competitiveness we have to know the rules of the game we are playing. We have to count on governance that is consistent and extends beyond the political short term to achieve a long term national purpose.

http://www.sonnemanawayoflight.com/blog

Robert Sonneman 8/11/11
When I find a new direction or inspiration for design its a rush, an emotional high. The experience is exciting. energizing and addictive. That’s what makes creative people create. The process of investigation and discovery is not just about what you do… but who you are.

Most inspirations do not come at a drawing board but in the the most unexpected places as I move through life. Hurriedly sketched on a napkin or on an envelope before the notion escapes. Then through a process of sketching, modeling and refining I try to bring the idea down to its simplest form and most direct approach. That is what produces my style, my approach and my vision. I love the elegance of simplicity. It is who I am.

I remember one of the first modern lighting products that I did in 1967. It was a lamp named Orbiter. It was and still is a huge success and became an icon of mid-century modern design. Orbiter came to me through a process of sketch investigation at my drawing board. I wanted to put a light at the end of a balanced boom that would move freely and be able to poise at any point within a defined hemisphere. The concept was so simple it was easy. I surrounded the boom with a circle and cut away the bottom of the circle at the point that it intersected with the boom.. and there it was. Two simple elements that moved in rotation and in balance distilled to its simplest form.
The achievement was electric and connected my passion with the rush of achievement. I was hooked and it was the first time that I connected with the notion of designing for a living.
www.sonnemanawayoflight.com

“Mediocrity thrives in Good times, Greatness rises in Bad times.” *

Decades of insatiable consumption and seemingly limitless housing prices provided the medium to grow an abundance of companies that thrived on the rising tide of spending. Many grew sales by simply being there lacking vision, talent or a commitment to quality and value that sustains great firms through good times and bad.

Difficult times challenge talent, skills and commitment to integrity of purpose. Uncertainty demands a steady hand, a clear vision and a strategy rooted in solid business practices. These times demand that we invest in the core beliefs of our brand and the integrity, innovation and value of our products.

Apple continues to grow, regardless of the economy, through innovation and delivery of superb products that loyal customers continue to demand.
Luxury brands, built over time, have invested in the quality, service and cache that is the promise of their brands.

The near term market will not have the capacity to absorb more but rather become increasingly selective in the products it accepts. Growth will be won by competitors that produce better products at greater value. Excess and abundance will yield its dominance to a leaner more selective retail landscape. There will be a thinning out of superfluous producers and the products they offer.

Brand, design, innovation, quality and service will drive value in the new economy.

www.sonnemanawayoflight.com/blog
* Sy Stewart. 2004, Mentor, leader, Teacher.

Robert Sonneman
July 20, 2011
New York

Forty + years ago when I began to introduce Modern European design to the U.S. market I was often told by retailers and dealers that…. “they don”t sell much Modern in their part of the country, but they know its coming.” 40 years later I hear the same story.

Its no wonder then that the American experience did not embrace Modernism as its own. Largely European in origin, Modern Design emerged in the turn of the century as a rejection of the hierarchy of a class system for the egalitarian notion of a better life for the working masses. Industrialization made products available to the many and cast off adornment in favor of a cleaner aesthetic rooted in the ideals of functional design

America, an immigrant nation of cross cultural influences embraced, ornamental and classical period styles as its aesthetic norm. It took a while to understand that the U.S. is not about European industrial Modern but rather a Contemporary style that is relevant to the American experience with a hand of its own. Its American Contemporary. not a style or school of of its own but rather combination of diverse influences very much like the nation it inhabits.

American Contemporary Style transcends modern and traditional periods with historical details set against geometric elements to form a bold, comfortable contemporary style.

Look at some of the Transitional or cross over designs on our site. You will find influences from the American West to Urban deco as I have tried to make contemporary lighting relevant to the American experience.
www.sonnemanawayoflight.com

Robert Sonneman
July 20, 2011
New York

Forty + years ago when I began to introduce Modern European design to the U.S. market I was often told by retailers and dealers that…. “they don”t sell much Modern in their part of the country, but they know its coming.” 40 years later I hear the same story.

Its no wonder then that the American experience did not embrace Modernism as its own. Largely European in origin, Modern Design emerged in the turn of the century as a rejection of the hierarchy of a class system for the egalitarian notion of a better life for the working masses. Industrialization made products available to the many and cast off adornment in favor of a cleaner aesthetic rooted in the ideals of functional design

America, an immigrant nation of cross cultural influences embraced, ornamental and classical period styles as its aesthetic norm. It took a while to understand that the U.S. is not about European industrial Modern but rather a Contemporary style that is relevant to the American experience with a hand of its own. Its American Contemporary. not a style or school of of its own but rather combination of diverse influences very much like the nation it inhabits.

American Contemporary Style transcends modern and traditional periods with historical details set against geometric elements to form a bold, comfortable contemporary style.

Look at some of the Transitional or cross over designs on our site. You will find influences from the American West to Urban deco as I have tried to make contemporary lighting relevant to the American experience.
www.sonnemanawayoflight.com