Camilla Kovac: shining a light on eco-friendly design

***Rachel Khoo would like to thank all the inspiring people who helped make the Khoollect studio a hive of creativity. Although the Khoollect studio’s doors have now closed, you can keep up with Rachel’s newest adventures on RachelKhoo.com and on Rachel’s Instagram and Facebook pages – and, continue to enjoy the Khoollect website’s stories and recipes, which will remain available.***

Camilla Kovac is the force behind Sweden-based, eco-friendly design institution The Kovac Family. The Kovac Family consists of Christopher and Camilla Kovac, founders and operators, designing and developing products like the 25Lamp. Their daughters Filippa and Klara who also are co-owners do a lot in the company. Klara Kovac does all the Art direction, from logo to package and web design

On a mission to create a completely natural light source, Camilla and her team create sustainable lamps that are inspired by their natural surrounds in Sweden. We asked Camilla about the inspirations behind her company’s wares.

How did The Kovac Family come about? Where did it all begin?

Realising that doing design for other companies was not fulfilling, we just decided we couldn’t keep doing that. Our thoughts went like, ‘if we are going to design a new product, it has to be sustainable when it comes to materials and production… and, of equal importance, it has to have a purpose, not just be a good looking object. So we said, ‘we are the Kovacs, a creative family, let’s incorporate us!’

Tell us a little about The Kovac Family’s approach to design…

Our idea was to design a product to fund our research project on sustainable light: “design funding” instead of crowd funding! We had received start-up funds and came up with this idea to source funding for the project independent of external financiers. Our ambition was to make a lamp with as small impact on the environment as possible, source material and produce it locally. One challenge was to use minimal materials, and what we used had to be certified as environmentally friendly and easy to recycle. Also to find a production partner willing to work with us during the development phase, without losing their patience. Made in Sweden, with eco-consciousness today and for the future, earnings go to our project with Biomimicry on sustainable light. Locally produced, made of sustainable materials, in a flat package. We call it 25, because it’s made of 25 pieces, as simple as that.
Kovac Family Lamps
What inspires your designs?

Nature! Inspiration comes from cause and consequence: How can we make things better in all aspects to improve the everyday life and our environment? Biomimicry and Janine Benyus is a hero of ours and also a collaborator.

How would you describe your work?

Since we are a small company we have the liberty to improvise a lot and test crazy things like hand dying the lamps with blueberries and beetroot.

Which has been your most popular lamp so far?

Numbers is a new collection and the 25Lamp is the first so, yes, 25Lamp is our most popular by far.

What do you love most about what you do?

Freedom to control our production and development according to our values.

What’s in the future for The Kovac Family?

Our long-term goal is to deliver a completely natural light source. Funding this is the main reason behind our design products.

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WRITTEN BY:
Sonya Gellert

Sonya Gellert is a contributing writer and associate editor for Khoollect. She lives in Sydney....

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Kovac Family