Compare that to the cost of a Noguchi lamp, or a Nelson bubble lamp – designs that are obvious precedents for the designer’s work – and I have serious pricing issues with this product.

Why does good design always end up in the high-end market? The industry itself needs to more seriously consider value versus price, and focus on affordability for the common individual.

Without doubt; making 1 of these costs $2000. But to make 100 of the same, the price could be $200 once the product setup (tooling) is complete. Designers need to start thinking like manufacturers once did – producing a quality product at excellent value – and stop being so, as the designer calls himself – “selfish.”

Besides the veneer lamps, the desk lamp on his entrance webpage is in a class of its own. The wooden lamp shade is simply stunning.

Thank you Singer, for pointing out the practice, learning and experience required in becoming a skilled craftsperson. Only the masters can make it look easy. That’s the problem with our culture today. Most high schools in the US have gotten rid of their woodshops in favor of computer labs, and so we have droves of people who are never having the opportunity to make anything with their hands, and thus lack the appreciation of what is truly involved in making handmade stuff, and making it well.

For anyone freaked out by the price of $1750 for Tom’s lamp, I would point out first that it is high in part due to the weak value of the dollar vs. the euro, and that most retail venues that sell handmade products like this (including galleries and websites) take a cut of as much as 50% of the retail price. From the remaining 50%, the cost of materials (wood, lamp parts, glue, finish, packaging, etc.) and overhead costs to operate a studio (including marketing expenses) are then subtracted out of that. Whatever remains at that point is what actually goes towards labor involved in making the piece. That is why handmade work costs what it does. It’s not for everyone, but you get what you pay for: high quality, attention to details, and craftsmanship built to last. If you are a hobbyist making a lamp on your own on the weekend, you might be willing to make it for $5/hr, but if you’re trying to make a living at it, you might actually want to make say, what a plumber makes an hour, or a computer programmer, or a stock broker, and why not? There’s just as much skill and experience involved, and even more risk, because it’s self-employment, without the steady paycheck.

From Tom’s bio:

http://www.tomrossau.dk/

“The design process is actually quite selfish to me. I may be that the end consumer gets his or her need covered by the product, but in all honesty I do for the kick that it gives me. It’s quite a thrill to get an idea out of the blue, to work with it, to get caught up in it, to be totally consumed by the details from the early drawings over prototypes and on to production. Then there’s the magic experience when the material intended to do one prototype suddenly starts misbehaving and reveals unintended characteristics and all there is to do is to dive right in and explore these new possibilities. Inspiration comes from all around, but the determination process of limits and potentials of materials can be so interesting. At times it would be more appropriate to refer to the material as the designer and I the mere help, fetching screws and fastening lose ends…”

‘course, I’d also like Tom, but I’ll take what I can get!

Some of the posters’ comments here betray their ignorance and disregard for skilled manual labor. Manual labor requires far more skill than the average computer programmer, accounting, banker, etc, and it’s a skill that only time and practice can give you.

As for thieving. Yes there is enough info here to “steal” the design, but to create a lamp that is durable (not to mention sellable), involves a lot of time, work and tools, knowledge of how the veener behaves in different conditions, how to place the armature/lightbulb without burning down your house, etc etc.

And yes, there is a large gap between “can” and “did”.

Some people may make their own copy, based on these photos. But they probably could have made a copy just by seeing a photo of a finished ST 903. And they probably aren’t the type of person who would spend thousands of Euros on a Tom Rossau original.

Even if someone uses these photos to set up a business and starts to make ST 903 clones, if Tom is even a bit creative (which he obviously is) he’ll probably have moved on to newer cool designs by then. Meanwhile this website has exposed a few more potential buyers to his work.

So thanks, Tom, for letting us peek inside!

The best designs always look easy.

As for copying it, I never said I would copy it, I just said that this showed a LOT of information on HOW to copy it. They’re very nice lamps, and yes, he put in a lot of effort into figuring out his rigs and everything else, which again is why i’m surprised he posted all the pictures. Jeff made a great comment and observation, people talk about doing it themselves then never do it. Maybe that’s why he’s showing this, cause he knows the actual amount of people that would take the time to replicate this is so minor that it won’t have any impact on his sales. To him, i say cudos. He’s braver then I am for doing so.

Tom had to create the idea, make it desirable, test it, build the jigs by hand, figure out how to cut and assemble it, then repeat the production process over again by hand to make a new one. Why take that away from him? Why doesn’t he deserve a premium price for both the labor and what it took to bring the idea to fruition? What is it with this mentality that he and people like him aren’t deserving of the time and effort they put into the things they create?

Yes, anyone- given enough time, money and effort- could recreate anything that exists in the world. That’s not the point, is it?