40 years of Lamy design

Brand-name writing instruments from Heidelberg based on a strong belief in design

The firm of C. Josef Lamy GmbH was established in Heidelberg in 1930. Under the leadership of the present Managing Director Dr Manfred Lamy, the company has successfully evolved as a design brand in the high-grade writing instruments sector. Lamy stands for innovation, quality and modern design, and with its brand promise “No design writes better”, expresses its clear belief in the functional design of its excellent products. With an annual production of approximately six million brand-name writing instruments Lamy currently holds a leading position in Germany and Europe and is also extremely successful in other parts of the world, in particular Japan, Colombia and the USA.
The high technical, design and utility quality of the writing instruments from Heidelberg make them desirable design objects. With this year’s anniversary on 26 October Lamy is celebrating its forty-year design history.

 1966 the first products of the LAMY design era came onto the market with the LAMY 2000 writing instrument programme. The range was developed in cooperation with the “Bauhaus designer” Gerd A. Müller and represented the breakthrough for the family enterprise. The development was a major step towards finding a distinctive product profile which is also reflected in the overall image of the company and which led to the company gaining a unique position on the brand-name writing instruments market. Lamy design is intended to increase the utility value of the firm’s products and to make them more intelligent in the way they perform their function. It must take the functional, technical and material properties of a Lamy product and reflect them in an aesthetically attractive form which expresses a high technical standard and quality. The LAMY 2000 was followed by numerous further product lines, each with their own particular individual characteristics, which have written design history. Cooperation with freelance designers – initially national, later also international – has always been a success factor. Lamy products have won numerous design awards, including the “Good Design Award” (The Chicago Athenaeum), “red dot award” (Essen), “DesignPlus” (Frankfurt), “if” (Hanover) and the “Design Prize of the Federal Republic”.

Innovative company at the business heart of Germany

Lamy is regarded worldwide as a pioneer among the manufacturers of brand-name writing instruments. With close on 400 employees the family enterprise develops and produces all of its products at its own factory in Heidelberg. For the nationwide business initiative “Germany – Land of Ideas”, in connection with the football World Cup, Lamy has been selected as one of Germany’s innovation standard-bearers. Lamy is thus representing Germany as an inventive and creative location together with 87 other companies including Airbus, Audi, Lange Uhren and Loewe as part of the “365 Places in the Land of Ideas” campaign.

Architecture and art as an expression of the company’s philosophy

The company headquarters in Heidelberg reflect the importance enjoyed by architecture as a key element in Lamy corporate design. At the heart of the pioneering enterprise is the “Innovations Workshop”. This is where new products are conceived, tested and made ready for production. A further architectural highlight is the “Galleria”, which combines the Innovation Workshop and the injection moulding hall. The transparent glass hall is used for exhibitions, conferences and meetings. It is also the venue for travelling exhibitions which have established themselves as an institution in the cultural life of Heidelberg. Art also has a firm place at Lamy in the “Garden of Sculpture” on the roof of a leafy production hall. The architectural ensemble with artistic elements serves the purpose of addressing and inspiring the aesthetic senses of employees in an environment which is experienced daily. At the same time it is an expression of entrepreneurial spirit and shows the innovative prowess through which Lamy intends to continue the steady growth it has enjoyed up to now.