Lumi, a new printing process

I usually hang out in the student and schools forum, but I thought I’d pop out of my regular bubble to talk about a new project of mine.

Along with a fellow designer, we’ve developed a new printing process which works on almost any natural material. It’s fundamentally different from everything that exists out there and can create prints that were previously impossible on materials like leather, wood, suede, felt, wool, cotton, etc.

Of course this has many applications in design which is why I bring it up here. It creates a whole new set of possibilities for us as designers. Without wanting to sound too spammy, we’ve started a Kickstarter project and we’d love for you to stop by:

Looks like a great thing you’ve got going. Would love to see some samples on wood. Is it possible to use the technique on stone or metal? Monochromatic only, or is color separation printing possible?

We can do ceramic but we have yet to try stone. Metal does not work, however. We’re also able to do multiple colors in multiple passes. Theoretically we should be able to do full color but we’re still experimenting with that.

Our blog has some pictures but we’ll continue to add more. I’d love to show you what it looks like on wood.

Wow thats fantastic, How well does it print on plywood? I wanna start churning out high contrast printed furniture cheaply and would love to move away from screen printing as it has quite a few limitations.


Also love the video work and I am envious of your studios…

Interesting, have you tried printing on HDPE or PET?

Thanks for the words of encouragement! This process only works on natural materials so materials like HDPE or PET are out, unfortunately.

Ah ok thanks Kepano, what about corn based plastics? Or is the process effective on natural materials because of their more porous surface?

This looks really great! I hope you guys reach your target funding goal :slight_smile:

Are the inks you’re using non-toxic?

Our project is being featured on the front page of Kickstarter! We’re very excited and the drive is going strong.

Thanks again for your pledge! Yes our process is very much eco-friendly. It doesn’t require any pre-treating with harsh chemicals nor does it require intense heat that damages delicate materials.

your results look very interesting. Your approach is the epitome of childish unprofessionalism.

The folksy video, cute girl, cute guy approach, only works with friends and family. I realize this Kickstarter arrangement is small small, and that appeals or it’s what you desire. Looking at your video shows people in environments that do not need money, only maturity.

Surreptitious, secretiveness (closed door, the vault), tells money and process people you aren’t serious. In a femto second you will be asked about due diligence: truly you have a unique innovation completely your own, it’s tested, it works, it’s commercially viable? It is excellent you have protection, there’s no secret: a patent, a filing, a license? Tell us.

If indeed you have protectection, redo your video showing almost everything, no secrets, and clearly explaining what you need and plan to do.


That’s the business man talking, and again it looks fascinating. However, the sceptic in me says I’ve seen this before. Numerous photographers have put images via unique methods onto odd substrates. Synthesized clorophyl process, exposures took weeks, but went onto anything, continuous tone, permanently.

Daaaaannnnnngggg Pier. Don’t hold back dawg.


If indeed you have protectection, redo your video showing almost everything, no secrets, and clearly explaining what you need and plan to do.

You still need to have deep enough pockets to protect your “protection”. Patents are a waste of time if your are not extremely well funded, lawyer’d to the hilt and have a staff that can handle all the BS. If I did have a patent, I wouldn’t go tell everyone where it is… Its like a roadmap with GPS coord.'s to do everything you are doing.

Better to be first to market with strong branding, rather that start off on your heels in a defensive posture. Patents get steamrolled by large corporations all the time. Sad but true, for poop and grins have a dialogue with people in the Biochem/Chemistry field. Steamrolled without the courtesy of a kiss is so prevalent, its almost expected if you go to patent first.

Surreptitious, secretiveness (closed door, the vault), tells money and process people you aren’t serious. In a femto second you will be asked about due diligence: truly you have a unique innovation completely your own, it’s tested, it works, it’s commercially viable? It is excellent you have protection, there’s no secret: a patent, a filing, a license? Tell us.

Maybe, just maybe… they are not looking for a large VC funded empire. Call me crazy, but if that is what they were looking for, they probably wouldn’t have choose Kickstarter (or whatever) for a paltry sum of 12K. Some companies would rather start small in good financial shape, as opposed to; VC “take on this metric ton of debt”, grow like gangbusters with no base and eventually end up like the overwhelming majority of startups that get way over their heads; EPIC FAIL.

Perhaps if we would encourage more business to start small and grow WITH their customers and their business we would not be mired in the bullshit we are currently neck deep in. Perhaps, “getting serious” for “real” VC money is a load of shit. Perhaps, sustainable (I’m not talking the green movement, I’m talking economics 101) business is something we should encourage… you know the kind that sells more than they spend and has a “right side up” balance sheet?

I’m not talking for Lumi as I may be way off. They might want a large VC funded operation, I don’t know (but it sure doesn’t seem like it). I’m talking as a business owner myself who abhors what business in this and other countries has become.

Yeah I’d have to agree with caffeine. Pier I think that you are misinterpreting their goals. The fact that the project was posted to kickstarter which is essentially a web version of a bake sale, signaled to me, at least, that they are not in the hunt for big venture capital bucks right now, but are looking to off load part of the financial burden of starting a small company. All money donated is essentially a gift, you get a gift in return, sure, but you’re giving the money knowing that the vast majority is going to them to do as they please.
As far as the video being a little hokey, cute guy, cute girl, yeah I guess, but that’s subjective, it’s not like they hired out actors and hid behind the camera. As far as it being childish, I don’t see that, in fact I think it’s a very mature well thought out video for their purpose: ie. they want complete strangers to like them enough to want to give them a gift.

is it different/better than this?
http://www.mimakiusa.com/Textile.aspx?level=3&pid=4&cid=60

Peir, I’m with you on this one. From what I saw on the website there is no way I would give any money without any real information. All they show us is smoke and mirrors. I also agree that 12k seems a little low for them if what they have is really as good as they say it is.

Maybe they should move into smaller lofts and save some dough themselves. For 12K you look to the three F’s-family, friends and fools. Strangers on the internet would be the latter.

Oh and adding the pretentious bit about croissants in the video didn’t make me think, hey these are struggling artists/designers/inventors that could use some startup capital.

Thanks for all your feedback! We’re taking all the comments into consideration and reworking our video. We fully understand the serious tone that needs to be communicated.

In the meantime we think the products will speak for themselves and have updated our fund-raising page with photos of one of the rewards:

We’ve also done an interview with Kickstarter’s official blog which answers some of your questions:

http://blog.kickstarter.com/post/347723802/creator-q-a-lumi-co