From the beginning of her career, Karo Sulej has focused on designing in close collaboration with industry. Her first projects, carried out as part of the Multidisciplinary Design Studio at the Faculty of Design, Academy of Art in Szczecin, required working under real production conditions. A field trip to the Pienińska Glassworks during studies allowed her to learn glassblowing techniques, material limitations, and production processes. This hands-on experience enabled Karo to design her first lamp and later the modular lighting system Light Up, incorporating both technological possibilities and guidance from the glassworks staff.
Her next project, TILT, was developed in collaboration with Toyota Material Handling in Sweden during her master’s studies in Industrial Design at Lund University. Students had access only to production waste and leftover components from manufacturing processes. Consultations with Toyota engineers and technicians proved crucial, allowing the design of connections between different materials, ensuring not only the product’s safety but also its intended functionality. As a result, 90% of TILT was made using waste materials, while only 10% of components had to be purchased for safety reasons.
Light Up and TILT demonstrate a new dimension of industry–designer collaboration. Sourcing materials from production waste enables the creation of innovative supply chains and value flows between companies, while also allowing ideas to be tested in practice, transforming prototypes into industrial products.
For Karo, working with industry means not only creating functional and aesthetically appealing projects but also having the space to experiment and explore materials and technical solutions. This approach allows her to develop products that are ready for serial production while responding to the needs of contemporary sustainable design.
Today, Karo Sulej continues her career across Europe, working on international R&D projects where she can combine creativity with practical industrial experience, introducing innovative solutions under real production conditions.
In this article you can see TILT. For more pictures look on Karo Sulej Instagram
This text is a brief summary of an interview conducted by Magdalena Małachowska with Karolina Sulej in September 2025 in Szczecin.
Photo: Karo Sulej
The full interview can be found on the website: LivingLab.design