Latest Lumetta Line Turns Lighting Design Outside In
Lumetta, the Rhode Island-based lighting company, burst onto the scene 26 years ago when founder and president Bill Prichett teamed up with Lightolier to bring his premier designs to life. Lumetta entered the spotlight again when Prichett invented the brand’s signature composite material, Lumenate®, in 1997. Now, the company is creating another market-defining moment with the entry of their new Echo Collection.
Echo borrows from Lumetta’s highly successful drum lines and the diffusers use Lumenate®, but that is where the similarities between Echo and its predecessors end. Unlike the typical style of this kind of light, Echo’s patterns surround the light source. This inversion creates unobtrusive yet vivid lighting that illuminates a room. Echo’s elusive patterns suggest reflecting and refracting light that creates fuzzy, doubled images that are soft and romantic in tone.
“I think Echo is a fresh, vibrant line that could find a home in any sector,” says designer Stephanie Carlson who brought Echo to life along with team members Bowen Wheatley and Ryan Heelan. “When we started, our concept was totally different from what we produced. But through integrating Bill’s preliminary guidance and looking at our previous work, we arrived at this projected pattern idea.”
Echo also differs from previous Lumetta products in that it is the first line developed without Prichett’s direct involvement. After 26 years at the helm, the president decided that for Lumetta to stay a top contender in the contemporary lighting market, there would need to be an injection of new ideas and energies into the design process.
“I created this design team, but after that I got out of their way,” says Prichett. “And what they’ve come up with is truly innovative.”
“The scope of our dedication to collaboration since creating Echo is large and inclusive, and reaches beyond this particular team we’re a part of to include the whole company,” says Wheatley. “For Echo, we’ve streamlined some of our processes without losing our excellent materials or design sense.”
Echo is available now in six colors and four drum sizes, and plans are underway for expanded options.
