2006

The journey begins when founders Matthis Hamann & Roman Gebhard meet while working for Siemens’ subsidiary designaffairs in Munich, Germany.

Roman and Matthis, who had both worked for international design studios abroad, soon discovered they shared one vision: bringing together the strong European arts & crafts heritage and tradition of great design with the international and Californian "consultancy" approach of shaping service-oriented, technology-driven experiences to meet users' needs.

At the same time, leading design consultancy LUNAR in San Francisco, admired for their bold design approach within the growing computer appliances field, wants to expand  internationally.  Roman, who had started his career at LUNAR Design, Matthis and LUNAR Design begin to talk.

2007

LUNAR Europe GmbH is founded. The studio works closely together with its LUNAR colleagues in San Francisco and Hong Kong, offering strong joint services and an open design culture for international talents. At the same time, it operates as an independent European LUNAR studio, celebrating local strengths and differences and developing its own personality.

Soon after, Roman, Matthis and their team of 5 move into their first proper office space, a newly restored former bookbinding workshop at Baaderstrasse 41 in Munich’s creative Glockenbach district.

With its mix of diverse local expertise combined with global reach and mindset, the partnership proves to be a great foundation for LUNAR Europe's European and international clients.

The studio grows over the years, not just in size but in terms of capabilities as well.

2009

In response to the growing need to provide clients with strategic support, Roman and Matthis establish their Insights & Strategy team, now offering qualitative user insights research as an important integral part of the early design and innovation process.

2014

LUNAR Europe and its American colleagues win the prestigious Cooper Hewitt National Design Award in Product Design. The American LUNAR Design founders celebrate together with First Lady Michelle Obama at the White House.

2016

Strategic partnership with iO Life Science based in San Francisco, Pune and Munich, enabling LUNAR Europe to create a customized full service offering for clients from the life science industry.

LUNAR Europe now employs a creative team of 28 people from eight different countries. More office space is needed.

2016

Roman and Matthis secure the lease of a historic industrial building near the old studio: once the first steam laundry in Munich, it had hosted the Munich fashion school for the previous 25 years. After extensive remodeling, LUNAR Europe moves into the new studio and now has the entire team under one roof.

As they prepare to celebrate their anniversary event after evolving extensively for more than 10 years, Roman and Matthis reflect upon where they want to head in the future.