Nova & Jon Gilmore Designs To Launch Domestic Prototype Shop

Furniture World Magazine

In an effort to accelerate design capabilities, as well as fine-tune and test market its latest lighting and home décor items before sending them into full-scale overseas production, NOVA and Jon Gilmore Designs announced that the company will open a new domestic prototype operation in February 2008. Based in Laguna Hills, CA, “Q’s Laboratory” will provide a creative environment for a range of designers, complete with a metal shop with metal forming, welding and finishing operations; a wood shop for cutting, turning and laminating; and a model-making facility for forming shapes, sculpting and experimenting with new finishes. “As we continue to expand beyond lighting into a comprehensive lifestyle home décor assortment, it becomes more important that ever to be able to prototype domestically,” explains NOVA CEO Daniel Edelist. “Even the best drawings get modified when they are transferred to our Chinese factory. Under the guidance of veteran design leader Jon Gilmore, we will now have the ability to fabricate an actual prototype, test it to get the bugs out, solicit market research from our key customers and value engineer the design before it gets produced.” While NOVA had maintained a small prototype shop since its inception in 1923, in recent years the company came to rely more on 3-D and AutoCAD design to fabricate samples as it moved from domestic to offshore manufacturing in China. As part of this shift, the company’s highly versatile manufacturing business evolved into a well-run distribution operation. And, NOVA team members moved from their roles as master wood workers, metal works, resin casters, finishers and machinists to focus on the distribution operations as well. When NOVA acquired Jon Gilmore Designs in 2007 as part of its full-scale expansion plan, company founder Jon Gilmore came on board in the new role of Chief Designer. Creating and manufacturing innovative wall décor, clocks, mirrors and accent furniture in Southern California since 1974, Gilmore committed to setting up and overseeing a dynamic prototype shop for NOVA. “With a nod to ‘Q’, James Bond’s famed engineer and gadget master, we’ve worked hard over the past year to assemble a team of talented industrial designers, artists and sculptors and create an innovative environment for them that promises to foster a spirit of creativity and imagination,” explains Gilmore. “Together we will be able to speed up the research and design process and refine our concepts so we can be sure of sending a perfected design for mass production.” Headquartered in Huntington Park, CA, NOVA is a leading designer of high quality, larger scale contemporary lighting designs at affordable price points. Through recent acquisitions and ongoing product development, the company is also expanding its versatile product line to include a complete lifestyle assortment of home accents and furnishings, including hard-wired fixtures, sculpture, mirrors, clocks, screens and accent furniture. Customers include top furniture retailers, as well as a growing customer base of specialty retailers, department stores, catalog buyers, e-tailers, mass merchants/home improvement retailers, lighting showrooms, model home designers and hospitality clients. For more information, visit www.NOVAlamps.com.