Light project. Your Opinions.

alkaz

New Member
Ok so below are eight of my design ideas for this project I am doing at college. I would be grateful if you would reply below with which design you light, why you like it, would you buy it and also what value would you pay for that particular item.

2mcvl86.jpg
 
can we get the brief please.... there's no point us picking one without knowing the whole brief

ps... wrong section
 
I thought this was the right section from another thread I saw, sorry about that :) Also it was an open brief to work out the sort of light we wanted to create and what we wanted to use it for. I chose desk top lamps and decorative/mood lighting. There isn't much else from the brief I was given that is relevant.

Ecology, bulb type etc are all factors we have to consider once choosing a design or at least the final three designs to then develop.
 
ok... first off, my background is product design, I have a bsc (hons) degree and I still work with designers on a regular basis even though I now specialise in the 3D side of things. I also say things as I see them, it's nothing personal but I don't see the point in saying something is good if it isn't.

1... been done before, just google jenga lamp
2... basic idea has been done before, it's also going to be unstable because it's top heavy
3... looks like lots of strands of hair or similar, it's kind of been done before
4... again looks fairly similar to other designs that have been done
5... assuming transparent plastic... basic idea has been done before, the shape is maybe a little different though
6... picture looks like it could be a sex toy as well as a lamp... honestly that was my first thought on that one
7... cut out lampshade, been done to death
8... not entirely sure what's going on with this,

Having said all that your concepts really need to show relevant details because that dotted outline (number 8) is for another 'unit' that sits on top where as I suspect yours is meant to be transparent sections. It doesn't help when all we get is the image on the paper with none of the text which I assume is outside of the image.

To summarise, there's nothing there that's really original and if I remember back to my college/a level/uni days originality was part of what your work was graded on. The problem with lamps is that to put it simply there's only so many ways you can do things and most have been done. In your case you either need to think outside the box, which your current ideas don't really do, think of ways of re-purposing things to become lights or moving away from the desk and working on mood lights for say the garden etc.

For example, you've now got the option of using led lighting so (idea just popped into head) you could take a balloon and stick an led light (think fishing rod tip light) inside it before blowing it up using helium (I think it's safe...) so it actually floats while it glows, you could even have it powered by electric and have the power cable act as a tether. Would work great for mood lighting, especially when a load are bunched together. Unsurprisingly a quick google for balloon lamp has a similar idea already being conceived/produced.

Another quick idea was working on refraction. Take a thick piece of transparent plastic/glass and router out (45 degree cuts) and cut out a 'lamp' or 'light bulb' shape. Shine the light in from the very bottom and the lamp will glow while the rest of the sheet (except edges obviously) remain clear. But even that isn't really new...

See what I mean about it being a hard area to really be original.
 
I have moved this to the correct forum area.

I was shamefully close to making a post earlier regarding #6... but I didn't want to just leave a comment that was based solely on that..! Levi has given you some great advice here and I agree with all of the points he has made. I'm not really a product designer or anything similar, however, it might be beneficial for you to target a market segment instead of trying to appeal to a mass market as you will find it easier to create a product that appeals to them specifically. For instance if you wanted to target the green market, there are a lot of ways you can go about doing that and it may also lead to you coming up with something original, or at least more original than the dildo lamp ;)
 
Like I said I say it as I see it... mind you I had to word it carefully when I commented on number 6 :)

Thinking about it though... a dildo lamp would be original.... not sure how well the market (not the lighting one) would take to that though lol
 
Thanks for your reply. I only have a week left on this project and I've kind of left it to the last minute because I literally hated this project. As you say it's hard to come up with anything that is original. I really struggle with product as that isn't where my interest is but seems to be the only thing my lecturers are interested in. The final idea on the above image is a bottom lit acrylic box with clear and mirrored side emitting acrylic boxes which fit in one and other. Hopefully creating diffused and an interesting glow using different coloured acrylic and lights. That is the idea I am going for I think. As for the ''dildo'' lamp its a rubber coated fibre optic lamp not intended to look like what it looks like but to be used either as task lighting or to be separated to create a decorative lamp.

Thanks for the feedback guys!
 
No problem. Maybe you should go for the dildo lamp, I bet no other student has attempted that before ;)

I'd love to know what happens with this project and to see some photos of it when you're done, make sure you come back and fill us in!
 
Good luck with it all, I look forward to hearing back from you!
 
Back
Top