Interview with Viore Design Director - Paul Mulhearn

The Viore Design brand presents unique and exciting lights which are both stylish and sophisticated. Paul Mulhearn is the founding director and designer at Viore Design.

I caught up with Paul to talk about Viore Design, how it started and what inspires him to create lights that are coveted and sold all around the world.

First and foremost I wanted to find out about Paul's training background in design to which Paul told me he's had no formal training whatsoever in design. "I'm just a creative person, that's all." Considering that one of Paul's very own table lamps won best new product at the prestigious Paris trade show, , I was immediately impressed. On top of this, he's also a signed songwriter with Mushroom Records, but that's a story for another time.

Paul went on to tell me that he started his working life at the steelworks having dropped out of school in year 10. It was when he began packing boxes in the warehouse for a lighting company that he's journey to becoming a successful lighting designer began.

While working in the warehouse for this lighting company, it was sold. The new owners didn't know anything about lighting. One thing led to another and Paul found himself working in the office, helping to build a new website and catalogue for the new business owners, despite having no training in these areas.

"The next thing I knew the owner took me to China and I just started making things out of scrap in factories. These products were sold in Europe and Australia. It was at this point that I decided to go off on my own," Paul tells me.

Viore Design was born. In recent years, Paul's have become exceedingly popular both here and overseas. "At the time when I started working with concrete there was no one in the world really using it to create lighting," says Paul.

"I always want to come up with something new. I never want to copy people but when people copy me, I take that as a compliment," he went on to say.

Being a designer, coming up with unique offerings all the time is really important to Paul, who isn't short on ideas for designs. I asked him a little more about what we can expect to see coming from Viore in the future to which he replies, more concrete and stainless steel.

"I'm passionate about lighting and design. I just do what I do and people like it. That's the pay off at the end of the day," says Paul.

So what's Paul's advice to those wanting designer tips on lighting for their home?

"I'm hoping people will steer away from . A decorative table lamp, floor lamp and pendant can create mood and atmosphere. When you have two table lamps on in a room at night and that's all that's on, that creates a real mood and atmosphere, which downlights just cannot do, they are mood killers."

Paul then tells me about customers who call after having a particular light of his for several years and want to inquire about getting another one for their home.

"After all these years I may have a customer say to me, I love that lamp. Everyday people look at their light and turn it on and it makes them happy. That's what I do it for. If I love it and I'm passionate about it I hope other people will be inspired by it too." We certainly are.

Check out our full range of lights at now.