With our new summer collection launch, which features new colours and trend led lighting, we wanted to give you an insight into how we design our exclusive lights in house. From product inspiration to sourcing new materials and predicting colour trends.

At houseof, design is at the forefront of everything we do and as we get ready to realise our second collection, our shapes are more daring, our techniques are still as boundary-pushing and we are still championing the use of colour in homes whilst also maintaining the simplicity – our core design focus.

Below is the design process I as the buyer go through at houseof to achieve all our exclusive designs. 

Inspiration

Before I start designing a collection, I like to get out of the office and visit new places, being inspired mainly by everything that is around me. Our office is based in London which is such a great place to do this. As I wonder around, I start to envision how interesting objects can transform into a light. It’s a fun game, you should try it!

I also like to visit exhibitions and events such as London Design Fair and Clerkenwell Design Week for inspiration. There is always such a rich and diverse design community at these events, it’s impossible not to be inspired.

For the new collection, I have mainly taken inspiration from lines, surfaces, shapes and angles that are formed from geometric and structural objects. The result is a collection of striking focal points which encourage both colour and design to be introduced into interiors.

Designing

Once my head is filled with inspiration and my Pinterest board is full, I begin by creating mood boards and start sketching the lights. Below are some of my mood boards I created for the LED concrete floor lamp which was inspired by objects I had seen stacked together and also looking brutalism architecture. 

Material

Once I have designed the light, I then decide what material to make it from. We mainly use metal, glass and concrete as they work best for our design aesthetic, however I am always sourcing new and interesting ones. Material Lab in London is a design resource and material studio and great for getting inspiration on new materials and trends.

Colour

We decided to introduce two new colours to our new collection which sit alongside our existing palette.

To select our colours, we extensively look at trends in both fashion and interiors and consider how they will work with our new designs. We then normally spend a day playing around with pantone books and creating mood boards, making sure we have the correct colour and tone. Once the Pantone is selected our factory then produce colour chips for our approval. This season we have gone for on-trend colours lilac and sea green, which lend themselves perfectly to our new design-led pieces.

Sampling

Once we are happy with the designs, we are then ready to see the designs come to life. We go back and forth on the design and make sure every detail is approved before they are sent to production, this often involves a trip to the factory to see the samples in person.

Website Launch

Once all the samples are approved, and ready to go to production we then start to think about the visuals and the campaign behind the launch.