Arik Levy and Pippo Lionni

“I think really the world is about people and not about objects. We design for people,” says Arik Levy. It’s a wide world that artist-designers Arik Levy and Pippo Lionni inhabit. Levy was born in Tel Aviv, Lionni in New York, and they converged in Paris, by way of Switzerland, Italy and Japan, to launch L Design in 1997. Levy’s experience encompasses product design, set design and high-tech clothing. Lionni is primarily a graphic artist with an extensive background in research – he’s studied in Paris; Ankara, Turkey; Helsinki, Finland; Milan; and Brussels. Lionni’s visually artistic approach combines seamlessly with Levy’s experimental and boundary-pushing design sensibility. With L Design, these two cutting-edge creatives have embraced the beautiful mess of great design through the skillful development of product, brand identity, interior design and exhibitions. “As an act, design is the constructive translation of ideas into concepts, concepts into forms, forms into materiality,” says Lionni. “But it’s a client’s messy problems and frustrated desires, the inconsistency of intention and bluff that springboard us to the most interesting solutions.” Together, the pair are battling the phenomena of “low quality and culturally stupid objects” with projects for clients as diverse as Bitossi, Vitra, Adidas, Magis, Serralunga and LG, to name a few.