Posted on Leave a comment

We’re in The Nottingham Evening Post

Just before Christmas I had an order to be delivered to south Wales. We booked for it to be picked up by Hermes but unfortunately they didn’t bother turning up not once but twice. Due to certain complications regarding delivery to the address I decided to take the parcel down myself. After doing this I posted a picture on Instagram with a brief description like this. This was picked up by The Nottingham Evening post and they did a (nearly) full page feature on the story!
Take a look here –

https://www.nottinghampost.com/news/business/nottingham-designer-makes-long-journey-2345045

Posted on Leave a comment

Customer review from Isle of Mull

Thank you to our customer from the Isle of Mull for your lovely review and for ordering a table lamp after receiving her Adjustable Standard Lamp. Photo of her lamp is above.

Please read her review below.

Dear Mark and Marianne,

We are pleased to tell you that our lamp arrived safe and sound on the Isle of Mull this morning and it is beautiful. Parcelforce has been a great option for us and to be within 48 hours at this time of year is a miracle. 

We found the website through Etsy initially, then following on Instagram. The workmanship looked perfect for our aesthetic but since we had not seen any of Mark’s work it was a leap of faith to place an online order. We didn’t have a moment’s worry after placing the order, communication was excellent, timescales and expectations managed. Excellent, professional customer service for a small company. Their choice of courier for us meant that our item arrived within 48 hours in perfect condition. This is no mean feat considering we live in the Hebrides, Scotland. Lastly, our lamp is beautiful and we are very happy to have it in our home. 

Alison

Posted on Leave a comment

The Edie Coatstand

mark lowe coat stand oak handmade

Welcome to the “Edie Coat Stand”

Mark Lowe Edie Coat Stand

A solid Oak or Ash coat stand .

We wanted to make a beautiful but practical piece of furniture. It took us some time but we think we got there in the end.

It is foldable so easy to move around and transport on house moving day- or even sent as a gift-Why not?!

There are 4 hooks and 4 tips to hang up your coats and bags. We have had the prototype in the house and it manages with the kids coats plus adult stuff and still looks great.

If you would like some information please email or even just feedback is really appreciated.

Posted on Leave a comment

Working with ‘Anything In Particular’

Anything In Particular Mustard and Chrome Prova Lamp

From antique to vintage, from decorative to downright bizarre. We have been doing some work with Anything In Particular (https://anythinginparticular.co.uk)over the last few months and really enjoying it.

I met Jon through a mutual friend a couple of months ago and we were talking about our businesses. His and his partners business is in buying (and sometimes restoring) all sorts of objects from any decade or even century. A lot of the objects he buys need some sort of restoration or even to be appropriated as something very slightly different. I was happy to help him with some of these objects.

As you can see from the object above this lamp was a wall lamp and by simply making a tasteful base it can now be used as a table lamp.

We will continue this relationship as it works well for both businesses. I also find it a challenge to think of a simple way to fix a problem much like when I am designing my own objects, design really is about solving a problem simply.

Posted on Leave a comment

The Story so far….

Mark Lowe Adjustable Standard Lamp Wingnut Detail

The story so far…

Through simple design and quality workmanship, Mark Lowe has developed a reputation for quality, handmade lighting. Along with these attributes comes the knowledge that all the products are manufactured in Nottingham, here in the UK.

Even before studying for a degree in Furniture design at the renowned Loughborough College of Art and Design, mark was a keen observer and designer. ‘I remember feeling inspired by the history of design and reading about movements like Arts and Crafts and the Bauhaus school’. After spending time working as a lighting designer and then teacher of design, Mark had the itch to design and make his own products. ‘I was sitting on the sofa and thought it would be nice to have a light that could be adjusted for reading. I started sketching ideas and a few months later had a working prototype’. Many improvements and adjustments later and the first lamp was ready to go into production (on a small scale that is). Following the success of the MLASL01 Adjustable Standard Lamp the first range was completed with the addition of the Standard Lamp and the Table lamp, both sharing a striking design feature of the coloured cord being integral to the body of the lamp. Another big part of the designs are the choices offered when you purchase a lamp. As well as the different designs the customer can choose between timbers and a wide variety of cord and shade colours. ‘It’s a bit like buying a new car, you get a number of options to really make it a bespoke lamp for you.’

This has all happened over the last few years and Mark Lowe – Lighting continues to grow and gain new followers. However, Mark is keen to keep control, not only of the business but of the quality of the products. ‘I still make all the lamps myself by hand. I will be happy to have help but know that I must be the one to complete each lamp.’ Therefore, he will not be over expanding and just aiming to ‘make a quick buck’. ‘Although the lamps are designed to be batch produced, I want to keep the numbers down. I don’t want to make this a huge business selling to anyone’.

Looking to the future

With a small but perfectly formed range of lights and a philosophy not to become too big, perhaps the company might sit on their laurels and be happy. This is not the case. ‘We are an ambitious company and want to grow in the right way’. The company will continue to develop choice for the lamps and aim to be ‘on trend’ with colours and styles. They have many products in development and are ambitious about expanding the range beyond lighting to other related items. ‘I enjoy being in my workshop making our products and more recently developing new ones. We need to think about the future. We definitely have a good idea where we want to be in ten years!’

Posted on Leave a comment

The new photos

Mark Lowe Lighting Adjustable Lamp Black Shade

All the new photos are complete. After the shoot day, James Gardiner spent some time in post production giving them a final sprinkle of magic dust.
http://jamesgardiner.co.uk/

We are very happy with them and feel they have already really enhanced the look of the website. We really thought it was very important for the people viewing the website to see our products at their very best. These new images certainly do done that. The customer can now, not only view the lamps in a beautiful ul environment but are also able to see the sort of detail we were hitherto unable to deliver.

Thanks again also to Jonathan Casciani - Joff at lanebypost.com for all his help and Primary - http://www.weareprimary.org/

Enjoy the photographs

Mark

MLTL02 Table Lamp in Ash with Yellow Cord and Shade in Grey Linen Copper Lining
Mark Lowe Lighting Lamp White Standard Lamp
Posted on Leave a comment

Photo shoot

Mark Lowe Lighting Photo Shoot behind the scenes

We had a busy weekend last weekend doing our first full and professional photo shoot. We had booked James Gardiner (http://jamesgardiner.co.uk) who I had met before and does a lot of work for Lane (https://www.lanebypost.com) based at the Primary in Nottingham.

I popped over on Friday afternoon to get some of the setting up done and then Saturday was a full on 10 hours pretty much non-stop. We had made a plan and managed to get everything done. We did loads of combinations on a white background and and then moved onto the ‘lifestyle’ shots. We did 4 different ‘styles’ for the different lamps.

We’re really looking forward to seeing the final shots. Watch this space……

Mark Lowe Lighting Photo Shoot behind the scenes
Mark Lowe Lighting Photo Shoot behind the scenes
Posted on Leave a comment

Inspirational Nottingham Businesses – 200 Degrees coffee

200 Degrees Coffee Nottingham

As a Nottingham business I thought it would be a good idea to start to pick out other successful local businesses that have similar values as us. 200 degrees coffee was started (like lots of great businesses) in a garage in 2012. In 2014 they opened their first coffee shop in the Flying horse walk. They now have a number of shops from Birmingham to Leeds. I visited the Carrington street shop which is just outside Nottingham railway station. I really recommend a visit not just for the excellent offee but the intimate and busy atmosphere.

https://200degs.com/