Nyta’s reductive design language sets it apart from other lighting labels. The Karlsruhe-based company actually first enjoyed major success in Scandinavia. An interview with Johannes Müller about the design of reduction, distribution strategies and the absence of plugs.
 

It all started with Tilt, a luminaire with a smooth conical shape and tiltable shade that you could call the nucleus of Nyta. And it was Tilt that enabled the young lighting brand from Karlsruhe to make a real entry on the market – initially in Scandinavia. Meanwhile, the lamp with the simple but effective tilting principle is available in Japan, the USA, Australia, Mexico, and of course Germany, and not just as a pendant light: there are also versions for the wall and floor, as well as with a shade shaped like a globe. Reductive design characterises Nyta’s entire portfolio, which also includes Pong – a pendant light available in a battery-powered version that was awarded a Special Mention in the Focus Open 2019 competition.

Mr Müller, what makes Nyta different from other lighting labels?
For one thing, we’re definitely not short on design expertise. Of the three of us who founded Nyta in 2012, two are designers: Johannes Marmon and me. And Fabian Maier is an architect and lighting planner, so we’re an ideal team. We make a point of sourcing as many of our parts and components as possible from partners in the EU. Rather than buying bulk lots from Asia, we order medium amounts that come to us in a steady flow. That enables us to make changes or adjustments to specific aspects quickly. We stay in close contact with our suppliers so we can always keep a careful eye on quality.

How would you describe your design language?
Very reductive, but always with finely crafted details. For us, it’s all about original, distinctive forms and special product ideas.

So what drives the ideas – the technology or the form?
That’s hard to say. Firstly, we don’t think in terms of the classic, often complementary roles of engineer and artist. And secondly, there are a lot of factors that play a part in the development of a product, like how it’s used, the material, production or how it’s sold. So the perspectives of the vendor, the controller, the warehousers, the lighting planners and of course the users all contribute to the concept as well. In our view, good design is based on a positive compromise between all the different interests involved. And in order to achieve a good synthesis, we factor in as many of those aspects as possible right from the start, when we’re still at the ideation stage.
That’s why our portfolio contains both: lights inspired by the form, and others driven by technology. Pong Battery is a good example. It’s a pendant light that has a cable but no plug: as the name suggests, it’s powered by a battery. The cable serves another purpose too: it’s used to hang the light. We often spend a long time discussing ideas until we come up with a really special and well-rounded solution. In the case of Pong, it took a very long time!

I assume you develop your design internally?   
Yes, but we want to use external design ideas too. Pong was designed by Simon Diener from Karlsruhe, for instance.

And what target group do you have in mind when you’re working on a concept?
When we started out, we focused on design-savvy and quality-conscious end customers. In the meantime, we’ve moved into the contract business more: nowadays you can find our lamps in hotels, lounges and restaurants. That has an impact on our product development and calls for customised variants, which we’re in a good position to implement thanks to our flexible production partners. 

There are only six people in your team – and I imagine most of them manage sales and distribution, right?
No. We don’t actually have our own sales department. In order to stay lean, we cooperate with various distributors who are responsible for the markets in Europe, Asia and overseas. We’ve been selling through intermediaries right from the outset. 

Talking of the early days: how did you get started back in 2012?
We’d just graduated and were full of ideas for luminaires that we wanted to launch – under our own control. It was all pretty casual, but we got off to a good start because we found a distribution partner who successfully positioned us in Scandinavia right away. We realised how important distribution was, so we did whatever we could to get into an existing network. And we managed it, first in Scandinavia, then in other regions. Today we work with nine different distributors.

Why Scandinavia? 
Our first distribution partner specialises in the Scandinavian market. And our understated design language evidently struck a chord there. In any case, it didn’t take long before things really took off. That gave us an important boost in the first few years.

Lamps are actually very long-lasting products, but still: what’s your attitude to repairability and sustainability?
We designed Pong in such a way that the materials are easy to separate and the battery can be replaced. That’s relatively simple, but it’s more difficult when it comes to the LED modules. The fact that LED technology is developing so rapidly makes it harder to guarantee repairability for an extended period of time. That’s the sticking point, unfortunately. Even so, it’s an aspect we definitely keep in mind
That’s why our portfolio contains both: lights inspired by the form, and others driven by technology. Pong Battery is a good example. It’s a pendant light that has a cable but no plug: as the name suggests, it’s powered by a battery. The cable serves another purpose too: it’s used to hang the light. We often spend a long time discussing ideas until we come up with a really special and well-rounded solution. In the case of Pong, it took a very long time!

And which other aspects will you be turning your attention to in the near future?
I think lights will become more mobile and smaller in general, and battery-operated products are encouraging that development. And of course the luminaires will become increasingly efficient too.

And how is Nyta developing?
Successfully of course (laughs). But seriously: we want to stay lean so that we can be flexible. That’s extremely important to us. Although we think we’ll grow, we don’t want to serve a mass market. We like the niche we’re in too much for that: we love being independent, not just in terms of our products but as far as the company’s concerned too.

One last question: there’s a long list of the design awards you’ve won on your website, including the Focus Open 2019. How important are awards like that for a young company?
In our case the awards were very important, not just from a sales perspective but internally too. Because at the end of the day, awards confirm that you’re on the right track and motivate you to stick to it.