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Left to right: Award-winning lamp Fog by Front Design; Elements XL by Note Design Studio; Silo by Note Design Studio; Camouflage by Front Design.
Capturing shades of light and darkness Based in the middle of the Kingdom of Crystal in Småland, family-owned Zero produces and sells pioneering lighting and electrical fittings for all types of rooms. Experimenting with technology and materials, and inspired by the Swedish light, Zero has put innovation at its heart since 1978. By Malin Norman | Photos: Zero
“We dare to develop original solutions, positioned somewhere between architectural and decorative lighting. While many other companies do either/or, we produce attractive lighting solutions with the latest technology,” explains CEO Per Gill. He mentions the lamp Camouflage as one of the company’s most challenging and awarding projects. The complex design was created by Front Design in 2007 and comes with laser-cut aluminium lampshades, requiring 24 hours of programming by the supplier before production could start. The company proudly markets the Made in Sweden concept with more than 80 per cent of its suppliers within 200 kilometres of its Nybro headquarters, where assembly and quality control still take place. Zero has also made a few significant changes to its direction and assortment over the years, in particular the introduction of new design collab72 | Issue 82 | November 2015
orations in 2007, involving the already mentioned Front Design as well as Mattias Ståhlbom, Thomas Bernstrand and Fredrik Mattson, who have since created some of the brand’s bestsellers. Awards for foggy globes One of Zero’s most famous products is the globe-shaped lamp Fog, developed in partnership with Front Design and winner in the category This Year’s Lamp at the ELLE Decoration Swedish Design Awards. The jury praised the timeless floating glass ball with its hidden light source and new expression bordering on alchemy. Zero has also received international prizes such as Red Dot, IF Design Award and the Wallpaper* Design Award. Among other striking products is the Elements range by Note Design Studio, taking inspiration from the Nordic mountains, nature and elements, as well as the different lights at dawn, during twi-
light and the midnight sun. Designed by the same studio is Silo, a minimalist, industrial series influenced by traditional grain silos. Further notable results of collaborations are the innovative Tilt lamp, created for Vida Arkitekter, the fruit-inspired range Pomi by Luca Nichetto, and Shibuya by Thomas Bernstrand. The Zero team of designers is currently developing five new lamps to be launched during Stockholm Design Week in February next year. These enlightening products will also be showcased in Milano in April and in London in May.
For more information, please visit: www.zero.se
Pomi by Luca Nichetto.