Lumen is a Milan

Milan

Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...

-based multi-disciplined creative and design

Design

Design as a noun informally refers to a plan or convention for the construction of an object or a system while “to design” refers to making this plan...

 consulting

Consultant

A consultant is a professional who provides professional or expert advice in a particular area such as management, accountancy, the environment, entertainment, technology, law , human resources, marketing, emergency management, food production, medicine, finance, life management, economics, public...

 agency, founded by Pietro Rovatti and Drew Smith in 2003.

History

Lumen has been founded in 2003 by the Canadian-born Drew Charles Smith, considered to be one of the foremost experts in consumer branding and packaging, and the Italian Pietro Rovatti, a leading expert in corporate identity and branding. Previously, Smith has been Creative Director at Carré Noir, Robilant & Associati and, eventually, at FutureBrand Gio Rossi Associati, while Rovatti has been Senior Art Director at Sudler&Hennessey and later Creative Director at FutureBrand Giò Rossi Associati as well.

Corporate structure

Lumen's approach is called brand

Brand

The American Marketing Association defines a brand as a "Name, term, design, symbol, or any other feature that identifies one seller's good or service as distinct from those of other sellers."...

ing innovation

Innovation

Innovation is the creation of better or more effective products, processes, technologies, or ideas that are accepted by markets, governments, and society...

and, according to its founders, this is what made the agency quickly growing internationally, by opening a branch office in London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

 (UK) in 2006 and establishing strategic partnerships in the same year with Mildberry, the first branding network in Russia, and in 2011 with 1.618, a Hong Kong

Hong Kong

Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...

-based branding agency. As of July 2011, the agency has 50 employees of 18 different nationalities.




Lumen offers a wide range of services for corporate ad private clients, as brand strategy, packaging design, corporate & brand identity, brand management, retail design, environmental design, interactive media, point of sale and merchandise design.

Clients

Lumen current and past clients are worldwide-known firms from multiple sectors, like Ferrero

Ferrero

Ferrero is a surname of Italian and Spanish origin that means "smith," the person who works with iron, and may refer to:Persons:*Alfonso Ferrero La Marmora , Italian general and statesman*Benita Ferrero-Waldner Ferrero is a surname of Italian (from Piedmont) and Spanish origin that means "smith,"...

, AC Milan, Campari

Campari

Campari is an alcoholic apéritif obtained from the infusion of herbs and fruit in alcohol and water. It is a bitters characterized by its dark red color....

, Cinzano

Cinzano

Cinzano is an Italian brand of vermouth, a brand owned since 1999 by Gruppo Campari. It comes in four versions:*Cinzano Rosso, which is amber-coloured;*Cinzano Bianco, which is white and drier than Rosso, yet still considered a sweet vermouth;...

, Autogrill

Autogrill

Autogrill is an Italian-based, multinational catering and retail company, the world's largest in the travel dining sector, which is controlled with a 59% stake by the Edizione Holding investment vehicle of the Benetton family. Autogrill runs operations in 40 different countries, primarily in Europe...

, Bonduelle, Zuegg

Karl Zuegg

Karl Zuegg was an Italian entrepreneur from Lana in South Tyrol. He was the managing director of the Lana fruit juice and jam company Zuegg, between 1940 and 1986.-External links:*...

, Unilever

Unilever

Unilever is a British-Dutch multinational corporation that owns many of the world's consumer product brands in foods, beverages, cleaning agents and personal care products....

, Club Med

Club Med

Club Méditerranée , commonly known as Club Med, is a French corporation of vacation resorts found in many parts of the world, usually in exotic locations. It is considered the original all-inclusive resort.-Foundation:...

, Illy

Illy

illycaffè is a brand of coffee produced in Trieste, Italy.illy produces only one blend in three roast variations: normal, dark roast, and decaffeinated. The blend is packaged as whole beans, pre-ground coffee, E.S.E. pods, or iperEspresso Capsules....

, Parmalat

Parmalat

Parmalat SpA is a multinational Italian dairy and food corporation. Having become the leading global company in the production of ultra high temperature milk, the company collapsed in 2003 with a €14 billion hole in its accounts in what remains Europe's biggest bankruptcy...

, Gancia

Gancia

Gancia is an Italian wine-making company. It was founded in 1850 by Carlo Gancia in the Piemonte region of Italy, and was a pioneer in creating the first Italian sparkling wine...

, Sky

Sky Italia

Sky Italia S.r.l. is an Italian digital satellite television platform owned by News Corporation launched on 1 August 2003, when the former platforms TELE+ and Stream TV merged together...

, Bticino

Bticino

Bticino S.p.A. is an Italian metalworking company that operates in the field of electrical low voltage equipment used to residential, employment and production...

, Barclays, Kellogg's, Heinz

Heinz

Heinz may refer to:People with the surname Heinz:*Drue Heinz, American arts patron*H. John Heinz III , U.S. senator from Pennsylvania*H. John Heinz IV , eldest son of Senator John Heinz...

, Henkel

Henkel

Henkel AG & Co. KGaA is an multinational company headquartered in Düsseldorf, Germany.The company operates in three business areas: Home Care , Personal Care ,...

, Festina

Festina

thumb|right|Festina watchesFestina is a watch company. It was founded in 1902 in La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland.The manufacture's motto was Festina Lente . In 1984, Spanish industrialist Miguel Rodriguez, already owner of Lotus watches bought Festina and created the group Festina Lotus S.A....

 and Rolex

Rolex

Rolex SA is a Swiss watchmaking manufacturer of high-quality, luxury wristwatches. Rolex watches are popularly regarded as status symbols and BusinessWeek magazine ranks Rolex No.71 on its 2007 annual list of the 100 most valuable global brands...

.

Awards

Some Lumen's works have been awarded due to their style and the use of innovative materials. The project realized for the rum Zacapa Centenario

Ron Zacapa Centenario

Ron Zacapa Centenario is a popular premium rum produced in Guatemala. Zacapa was created in 1976 to celebrate the centenary of the foundation of Zacapa, a town in eastern Guatemala....

 Etiqueta Negra has been focused on the "emotional involvement of the material used in the packaging" (in this case, palm fibers reproducing the motif of the south-american petate

Petate

A petate is a bedroll used in Central America and México. Its name comes from the Náhuatl word petlatl. The petate is woven from the fibers of the Palm of petate . The Royal Spanish Academy defines it as a bed. Generally petates are woven in quadrangular forms, though not to any exact...

 on the pack): a reason that prompted the Material Connexion research institute to show the product at the "Materiali innovativi e imprese 2009" exhibition, organized under the patronage of the Chamber of Commerce

Chamber of commerce

A chamber of commerce is a form of business network, e.g., a local organization of businesses whose goal is to further the interests of businesses. Business owners in towns and cities form these local societies to advocate on behalf of the business community...

 of Milan at the design museum Triennale di Milano.

A list of the most recent notable honours the agency received:

Competition	Year	Country	Award Category	Product	Client	Result
Designpreis Deutschland	2011	Germany		Prelius	Compagnia di Volpaia	Nominee
Mediastar	2011	Italy	Internet Entertainment Award	giOXO Digital Entertainment	OXO	Winner
Grandprix Pubblicità Italia	2010	Italy	Beverage Packaging Award	Cinzano Vermouth	Cinzano Cinzano Cinzano is an Italian brand of vermouth, a brand owned since 1999 by Gruppo Campari. It comes in four versions:*Cinzano Rosso, which is amber-coloured;*Cinzano Bianco, which is white and drier than Rosso, yet still considered a sweet vermouth;...	Winner
Grandprix Pubblicità Italia	2010	Italy	Luxury Packaging Award	Yacht Club Case	Diageo Diageo Diageo plc is a global alcoholic beverages company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the world's largest producer of spirits and a major producer of beer and wine....	Winner
Grandprix Pubblicità Italia	2010	Italy	Corporate Literature Award		Bottega Verde	Winner
Red Dot	2009	Germany	Best of the Best: Packaging Design Award	Prelius	Compagnia di Volpaia	Winner
Grandprix Pubblicità Italia	2008	Italy	Corporate Identity Award		AC Milan	Winner
Grandprix Pubblicità Italia	2008	Italy	Cosmetics Packaging Award	BioClin	Istituto Ganassini	Winner
Grandprix Pubblicità Italia	2008	Italy	Publishing Design Award	Gazzetta dello Sport	RCS MediaGroup RCS MediaGroup RCS MediaGroup S.p.A. , based in Milan and listed on the Italian Stock Exchange, is an international multimedia publishing group that operates in daily newspapers, magazines and books, radio broadcasting, new media and digital and satellite TV...	Winner
Grandprix Pubblicità Italia	2008	Italy	Best Logo Design Award		Fondazione Cariplo	Winner
Grandprix Pubblicità Italia	2007	Italy	Beverage Packaging Award	Boario	Ferrarelle S.p.A.	Winner
Grandprix Pubblicità Italia	2007	Italy	Food Packaging Award	Canned Vegetables Bonduelle	Bonduelle	Winner

External links

• Official Website
• Lumen's Facebook page
• Lumen's Twitter