UMAGE is a Danish brand that spotlights the environment

We’re turning a lens on UMAGE as a brand and their Chief Creative Director, Søren Ravn Christensen, and we’ve asked them all about their concepts, interest in the environment, and much more. Dive into an exciting universe with us and UMAGE, and find out much more about the brand and their values.

Find all lamps from UMAGE here

A new brand sees the light of day
UMAGE’s story began back in 2008 with the goal of creating a sustainable concept of flexible high-quality designs.

The business was founded by Jacob Nannestad Hansen and Søren Ravn Christensen, Together, they noticed a gap in the market for reasonably priced high-quality lighting. It was also important to them that the light created a pleasant experience for shop owners and end consumers alike.

The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, so it isn’t surprising that Søren—the son of a man who designed lamps in the 1970s—would end up in lamp design.

Ideas arise
The designs are primarily inspired by nature, but also from other industries such as architecture and fashion, where the designers draw on shapes and materials for inspiration.

New ideas also spring from current trends and needs, but it is important to UMAGE that new designs respond to a specific need. The process of creating a new design starts with defining the need of the target audience and curating suggestions for how UMAGE can meet this need. It’s important to not just create a new product but to respond to and satisfy a need.

The feather lamp from UMAGE

The feather lamp from UMAGE
EOS is the lamp that well and truly put UMAGE on the map, and its floating romantic expression makes it completely unique. EOS is made using goose feather, a different and lively material—and the story of its creation is one of chance.

”The concept was to find a new approach to lamps that encompassed the Danish ‘hygge’. We wanted a soft and lively expression—something you want to touch when you see it. At the time, we had another project that called for feathers, but we could only buy them by the kilogram, so I asked if I could borrow some—and that was how the idea for EOS, UMAGE’s popular feather lamp, came about.”
- Søren Ravn Christensen

Find all the wonderful EOS models here

An environmentally conscious brand

UMAGE is a brand that prides itself on an environmentally conscious approach, but they don’t take things further than necessary—it has to make sense. As a result, most of their products are flat-packed, which minimises the need for packaging, reduces storage costs for the brand and its customers, and reduces shipping costs, all of which helps preserve the environment.

But this approach extends to the brand’s materials and choice of suppliers too. Whether it’s a new supplier or a new material, the brand takes the time to find the perfect match. It’s important that the supplier can prove that their materials and production methods are eco-friendly. The brand only uses 100% recycled fabrics, and their goal is to only produce reusable products by 2022.

The lovely packaging can be repurposed as storage boxes, and the aim is for all packaging to be reusable by the end of 2021.

And that’s not all! Every time UMAGE sells a wooden lamp or piece of furniture, they plant a tree. So, when you buy a wooden lamp, a new tree is planted to help take care of the earth.

The environmentally conscious mission also comes through in UMAGE’s message for anyone eyeing up a lamp from UMAGE. ”Not only do you reduce your impact—you also buy a story and a timeless design that you’re bound to love and treasure for years to come”.