Lights on Massimo Buster Minale

Talking to the man behind the world's first designer LED bulb.

Massimo Buster Minale is a London architect and industrial designer who, back in 2013, founded Buster + Punch, an interior design label now successfully cemented at the forefront of British design art.

We welcomed the opportunity to talk to the man himself about his groundbreaking achievements, inspirations, collaborations, and how it all began from a garage in East London.

What sparked your interest in product design?

I first started working for some big architectural practices in London, like Zaha Hadid and Foster & Partners, but found it frustrating working on really large London landmarks and architectural projects, as nothing ever seemed to get built and my ideas got filtered. That kind of inspired me to start Buster + Punch in the beginning.

By day, I was an architect; by night, I used to make custom motorbikes in a garage in East London. I started getting more and more involved in building motorbikes and selling some of them. When I could finally afford to quit the day job, I did.

Do you remember your first interior project?

My first product request was from a certain rockstar who asked me to make some cabinet handles for his kitchen, as he knew I was an architect. At first, I said no because it was quite a boring request. But then I made them out of old handlebars, soaked them in whiskey, and did some strange things with them. That was the thing I did, and it blew up from there.

We love the brand name! How did you come up with it?

Buster is my middle name, and Punch is my brother’s middle name—hence, Buster + Punch. It’s got a nice English edgy vibe.

What excites you most as a brand?

When we started the company, we made big-ticket, expensive items like whiskey bars and chandeliers. Things were okay, but when we started making ordinary, boring things that you find in your home, we got excited.

We really liked the contrast of taking dull things and creating an exciting lifestyle piece. We manufacture door handles, light switches, kitchen handles, and light bulbs. We want to make things that are exciting and accessible, so price point is very important to us. We are as much artistic and creative as we are technical.

We try to use the latest innovations in manufacturing—we are the only company that uses solid metal in all our products, cross-doweling solid metal using diamond-edge CNC lathes. Also, 25% of our products are British-made.

What is Buster + Punch's best-selling product?

Hardware, specifically kitchen handles, is our best-selling range. The kitchen industry as a whole has really taken to us. For too long, they only had access to hardware and handles from very large companies—there was nothing exciting to talk about, sell to customers, or offer as something more than just the product itself.

The community has really embraced us, using these small, interesting products as an add-on to make kitchens more unique.

Who has been your biggest inspiration in the world of design?

I've always been interested in fashion—it’s always been my go-to for inspiration. Alexander McQueen was always my muse in terms of talent. I loved how he empowered women and his clothes were incredible.

Nowadays, Virgil Abloh, the creative director of Louis Vuitton, is a designer I find interesting. He’s more about defining cultural time and presence in terms of people. His entire branding approach taps into younger people, and I’m inspired by that—I try to incorporate that into my own work.

Your range of work is so diverse! Do you have a favorite commission?

The product that took the most blood, sweat, and tears was the LED light bulb. We were the first company in the world to create a designer LED bulb that you could look at when it was on. Every big company was trying to do it, and we beat them to it.

We launched it in Milan in 2015—it almost killed us, but it’s our biggest achievement as a small company.

Read More in our Revealed Design Home Interiors Magazine