The upscale, but still quite small Hamburg manufacturer is proud of its expertise in fabrication, ranging all the way to precision mechanics, as this provides a way to demonstrate its conceptual and qualitative aspirations. High priority is placed on selecting materials with beautiful surfaces that harmonize with the overall design. There are usually no briefings held at Anta. This is not necessary, because new designs arrive anyway almost daily: from designers who have worked for years for this premier lamp brand, and from those who would like to join them. Company founder Gertrud Kracht sees to it that the mixture is just right. Trained in advertising, she began in the 1970s with Chinese vases which she found in Copenhagen antique stores and fitted with lampshades. It was still a long road from the small workshop, which was soon working for Christine Kröncke, to a lampmaker represented in the best design stores. At the heart of the product strategy is the designer lamp. The current product range comprises some 40 products, encompassing all lamp types and created by over 20 exclusively German designers. A total of eleven designs come from the drawing board of Rolf Heide. His Tuba standing lamp features a minimalist tube-shaped shade. One of the younger generation of designers is Carsten Gollnick, whose table lamp Minami evokes associations with Japanese culture. London-based designer Torsten Neeland supplied with his Cut (k p.507) a current best-seller in which the extreme contrast between the small shade and high stand creates intriguing visual tension. The height-adjustable standing lamp Lee by Jürgen Zeitler looks like a fine, curving line in space. Old master Peter Maly has put his stamp on the collection from the very beginning. Among his first products were the reading lamps My and Bibo. They were followed by the hanging lamp B e a m, and finally the dramatic and ceremonious wall lamp Ludwigsburg as well as Screen, the only lamp family in the catalogue. “We do not tailor anything to the market” is the credo espoused by Gertrud Kracht. She has always simply “believed in good design” remarks Maly, explaining a recipe for success that is as stunningly straightforward as most of the lamps.