A great strength in the design sector in Denmark is the phenomenal number of small and independent companies - designers, workshops, craft studios and design consultancies - in the country and the number is growing all the time.

I first met Jakob Forum with his company Haeng at Finderskeepers last year. Finderskeepers is a lively market place for design, crafts, fashion and food that was held over a weekend at TAP1 on the Carlsberg site in Copenhagen and is also held regularly in Aarhus. It attracts a really lively and mixed group of customers but with a strong element of young people and young families so it’s a great place to pitch ideas and new products.

Jakob has a background as a carpenter but has combined that with his idea for lighting that is very sculptural. The lights are put together from simple geometric elements that are beautifully turned in wood or made from natural materials like cork and wool. Each part has a strong sense of form and silhouette, but there are also strong colours. The starting point is a bulb holder and its light flex and all the other elements are threaded on to that so of course the flex itself can be a strong colour and can set the character of the final arrangement of the light.

Several ideas here are important: the individual pieces are beautifully made and presented and the final boxing and packaging is deceptively simple but well thought out and what is important is the participation of the buyer - not just choosing the individual elements, which is great fun, but also deciding, back at home, just how those pieces are to be strung together - and of course in the future, or in a different room or a different home, the pieces can be moved around to create a different effect.

a suggestion for the starting point ... a light on the display at northmodern

the light in my apartment that I bought last year at Finderskeepers in Copenhagen

Haeng has just opened a store and showroom in Copenhagen and their stand at northmodern looked really good … this is all a very confident move forward for a new company and they really do deserve to succeed.

Haeng, Vesterbrogade 204, 1800 Frederiksberg

Opening - Wednesday to Friday 10 - 17 and the second Saturday of each month 10 - 15