Benny Frandsen

Born: 1941
Best-known work: Ball family
Training: Electrical engineer

Background
Benny Frandsen was born in Skanderborg and took a degree in electrical engineering, mainly because his mother thought he should do a degree. His dream was to design and manufacture lighting solutions. He started out small by designing lamps for a local club, after which he tried – and failed – to convince his boss at the time to give him permission to start manufacturing lamps.

In 1968, Benny Frandsen began to manufacture squared and geometrical lamps independently, but sales of the lamps never really took off. Benny Frandsen figured out that what the Danes really wanted were round lamps and for that reason, he designed his first round lamp, aptly named ”Ball”.

This lamp proved to be the starting point for Benny Frandsen’s career! Everyone wanted a Ball lamp because its sleek, magnetic design was well-suited for use around the house regardless of the style of décor. Ball went on to become a huge success and before long, the lamp was available in various versions other than just the original mounted lamp.

In 1972, Benny Frandsen moved the manufacturing of his lamps out of his home and into a factory in Skanderborg to better accommodate the huge demand for Ball. The company took off immediately and was acquired by the Frits Group in 1993, after which it joined forces with Lyskilde. Benny Frandsen continued running the company as its CEO. In 1996, he chose to buy back the company and change its name to Frandsen Lighting A/S.

In 2005 Frandsen acquired Verpan, a smaller lighting producer that owned the rights to produce Verner Panton’s famous Globe lamps. They put Globe into production, and soon the acquisition of Verpan developed into a big success for Frandsen. Today Frandsen and Verpan are licensed to produce around 80 of Verner Panton’s lamp designs.

In 2011 Frandsen and Verpan ganied the license to produce a range of Panton’s furniture and rug designs, which are in production today.

2018 marks the 50th anniversary of the Ball lamp and for this reason, new models have been manufactured. Benny Frandsen has well and truly proved that good design and good business acumen never goes out of style.