ILLUMINATING NICHE; FLEDGLING FIRM SEES GLOWING FUTURE IN HIGH-END LIGHTING.

Byline: Jason Takenouchi Staff Writer

Designer Scott Searle has a simple response to the conforming effects of globalization, the information age and the computer society: build lamps.

His protest vehicle is True to Form LLC, a start-up lighting manufacturer in the Valencia Industrial Center. The month-old company will ship out the first of its specialized interior lighting products next week.

Searle and his partner, investment banker Mark Allen, say their company will cash in on a growing movement toward high-end lighting systems for hotels, restaurants and upscale homes.

``The whole trend of interior products is going back to a more craft, artistic style rather than a mass-produced product,'' Searle said. ``People are seeking individualism.''

True to Form will try to feed that desire with products that use a variety of shapes and materials, including wood, bronze, glass, iron and silk.

``One of the things we tried not to do is be defined by a medium,'' Allen said. ``We use familiar forms but unfamiliar material in many cases.''

Allen and Searle, both former executives with another lighting company, picked a good time to focus on upscale clients.

The strong economy, a stock market boom and growing wealth among baby boomers are key factors driving the high-end lighting industry to new heights, said Joe Rey-Barreau, consulting director for the American Lighting Association and director of the University of Kentucky's Lighting and Design Center.

``The upper end of the market in lighting is absolutely explosive at this point,'' Rey-Barreau said.

Some of the country's largest companies are concentrating more on the segment, he said, and demand is high among businesses such as restaurants that are distinguishing themselves with their interiors.

``You're having a lot more boutique restaurants who are trying to make a statement, both with their food and their environment,'' he said. ``Lighting is a significant part of their image.''

The expanding market has pushed newer companies into the lighting industry, but True to Form's founders are not neophytes.

Both Searle and Allen were executives at Creative Systems Lighting, a well-recognized name in the field.

Creative Systems had struggled since it went public in 1994, and in September it was delisted from the Nasdaq Small-Cap Market because it failed to meet minimum bid requirements. Searle and Allen left after the company changed ownership and leadership in March.

But True to Form's founders say they are focused on the future, not the past.

And lighting is just the beginning for the company, which already has hired sales representative agencies in Boston; New York; Washington, D.C.; Chicago; Florida; Los Angeles; San Francisco; Denver; and the Carolinas.

Searle said he intends to design whole interiors, not just lighting.

``We're starting with lights,'' he said, ``but eventually there could be other related products such as mirrors, sculpture, accessory furniture and objects of art.''

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3 Photos

PHOTO (1--3--Color) Scott Searle, left, and Mark Allen are partners in the True to Form designer lighting company in the Valencia Industrial Center.

Tom Mendoza/Staff Photographer