Energetic Lamp
This project had a very different focus than I was used to, it was a little more artistic and a lot more liberating. It opened up interesting avenues for me. I found that I was extremely interested and passionate about exploring and conducting more research in this domain of work. I found that I was interested in the inadvertent association of emotions that are made with mundane objects around us.
Presented below is the process and design of an 'energetic' bedside lamp.
My main takeaway from the project was the importance of form. I have so far been largely exposed to refining the function of a product but I now appreciate the importance that form has as well.
Sampling
The world around us presents objects with different personalities. Sampling was a way to train us to look for these personalities in our lives everyday. I looked at the world around me and found words, objects, people that I associated as energetic and attempted to analyse what gave these people or objects those characteristics.
In this phase observation and reasoning was critical. I think I was able to appreciate the ability to personify everyday things and see the world with a new lens.
After some observation and introspection, I made a list of words that I thought were related to the adjective 'Energetic'. I looked at people around me whom I associated as energetic and tried to look at objects and products around me as well.
I noticed that I associated words such as movement, action and sunshine with energy.
To me, energy was about the dynamic and colourful nature of things.
I looked at multiple product categories such as guitars, kettles, bicycles, chairs, water bottles etc and attempted to identify the most energetic from a lot. I then tried to reason with the product and identify why it was the most energetic and which attributes made it most energetic.
Why?
Lack of symmetry, sharp edges, bright colours, straight lines
Despite having a similar colour as guitar A, guitar B doesn’t have the same level of energy. This is likely due to its shape. It feels more rounded and hence relaxed and calm. The shape this has equal role to play along with colour.
Guitar C has an interesting shape but the base is quite large and hence it looks like it is sitting. That takes away from the energy.
Sampling Takeaways
Based on all the sampling, I learnt the following about bringing energy to a design. These were aimed to assist me with my form exploration and help me eventually choose a concept.
Lines
Lines I observed on energetic objects were generally straight and not parallel.
Form and Shape
I observed that the shapes of energetic objects tend to be more up straight and less like they were sleeping. The height is generally greater than its width.
Colour
Energetic products appear to be brightly coloured and often more colourful.
Balance
Products are often asymmetric about at least one axis.
Movement
Suggestion of action is made in products by the use of angles other than right angles. This helps create a direction for the eyes to follow
Contrast
There is a sharp contrast in the colours and shape used in energetic products.
Form Exploration: Sketching
Before I began sketching, I first looked into what made a bedside lamp a bedside lamp. On doing this I learnt that a bedside lamp needed some sort of shade to diffuse the light so that the user is not struck with direct light. I then explored different possible shapes and forms for the lamp to take and attempted to make use of all the conclusions that I had drawn from my sampling phase.
In order to reduce the number of options that I had, l compared each of the options to my collages to see which ones aligned best with my vision and research. On comparing, I found that important characteristics include feeling of movement, possible straight lines and lack of symmetry. I narrowed it down to three options, the first one being a conical concept on a spring, it created a lot of movement. The second one attempted to use jarring straight lines and embrace asymmetry as much as possible. The third concept resembled a confetti cannon, I derived inspiration for this idea from my emotive collage.
Form Exploration: Prototyping
At this stage, I hadn't decided all the specifics of the design and form and wanted to explore the form more with physical prototypes and possibilities that were more tactile.
I began prototyping the lamp with things around my house and attempted to play around with the form where I was still uncertain and made some decisions that are explained in the following sections.
I was unsure of the base of the product and decided to explore form while prototyping. I made multiple different models and placed them against my model to ascertain the most energetic of the lot.
At first, I tried to go for a somewhat conical model. This did not seem to bring out the energy. I then went for a lightning bolt approach. This was far more energetic. However, it was a bit unstable. So, I played around with the form a bit more to find the perfect size. I then considered a bottom panel but decided against it as the lightning bolt without the bottom seemed to have more energy. It was starting from nowhere and gave more of a feeling of movement and volatility.
Prototype
I built my prototype with all the considerations with regard to the form that I had decided earlier. I was keen that the prototype have 4 working lights so I arranged for that. I built it using a yogurt cup, some paper and foam. I attempted to add ample colour to the concept and experiment with light and colour while prototyping.
Final Design
The final design embraced elements from all the collages and attempted to channel the essence of the wordcloud constructed. It resembles a confetti canon, a bright explosion of colour. It had lights as I thought it was essential for an 'energetic' lamp to have more than one light since I found words like bright and sunshine to be closely associated with energy. I think it could be personified as the life of the party, a person with loads of energy and often colourful and electric. I also found elements like volatility, instability and chaos to be perceived as energy. I tried to channel these elements with the confetti spokes standing up and the lightning base. I also embraced the lack of a constant shape and the sudden change in colour and shape to my advantage. Overall, I think it channels a lot of energy in terms of shape and colour. It is bright, possesses a certain feeling of randomness and gives the sense of impending action.
Specifications
I would like my final product to be envisioned using coloured plastic for the confetti body and translucent acrylic for the confetti shards. The colour scheme is visualized behind. It closely resembles that of the collage. I would additionally like this to be a battery powered lamp and not one that is plugged into a wall socket. I feel like having a chord will limit the movement of the product thus taking away from the energy.
Putting the final design back into the collage, we see that it fits into the collage like it could be a part of it. The colours align and the materials and shape elements are present as well.
Why is this the most energetic lamp?
Balance
Energetic products tend to have an asymmetrical balance. I tried to create some asymmetrical tension by maintaining the overall weight across the vertical and radial axis but ensuring elements of asymmetry in terms on angle, size and orientation of the confetti crystals and shape of lightning base.
Movement
Most energetic products have a certain movement to them, creating a virtual path for your eyes to follow. I attempted to create this with the lightning shape at the bottom, contributing to a lot of movement in the product. Additionally, the confetti standing up create a sense of a kinetic action thus emphasizing the movement
Repetition and Rhythm
Energetic products tend to incorporate repetition in more subtle and unexpected ways. They are generally more random and have less of a pattern or predictable order to them. I tried to ensure almost minimal direct repetition and established some rhythm and repetition on top with the confetti but ensuring that the sizes and colour were different despite the shape being the same.
Contrast
Energetic products tend to have greater differences in their colours and shapes. I attempted to make this difference very pronounces by involving three different shapes for the different parts of the lamp to take. The confetti is tetrahedral, the body is the frustum of a cone and the base has a sort of lightning shape. The colours are quite contrasting as well. Incorporating derivations from all three primary colours.
Unity
Unity of an energetic product rests in a delicate balance of various elements. The products tend to be more random and chaotic, tying them together can be challenging. I attempted to create this by having a certain sense of visual order. The different elements are disparate in their shape and colour but they look like they belong together.
Validation
I used a semantic scale at the end to see if my understanding and perception of energetic comes through and is interpreted widely. I sent out a form with the final design and prototype to people and asked them to grade it on a 7 point scale on some adjectives.
Here is one result
Conclusion and Peer discussions
I think I was able to appreciate the character of everyday objects around me a lot better. It opened me up to a new way of observing the objects around me. I was able to classify my water bottle as possibly corporate and analyse why I thought so. I was able to compare it to a different more sporty bottle and ask myself why I felt that way and what gave a product a certain characteristic.
Collages as a method of creating a vision and decision making was entirely new to me and I think I will be able to adopt this in future projects.
Overall, I learnt about the importance of subtle yet extremely important features of a product such as proportion and angles. I think this will help me design better products as I go on.
On comparing and discussing with others who also worked with designing energetic products, I saw that a lot of us had gone for similar colours, a little randomness, chaos and opted for shaped that possessed some movement. I however did notice that there is more than one way to interpret the word energy- one being more lively and vibrant and the other focusing more on power and being dynamic.