Tag Archives: lamp design

A modular light fixture inspired by the abacus lets you add, subtract and have fun with your light setup!

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Abaculux is a modular light fixture inspired by the abacus, an ancient counting tool used for centuries, allowing users to add and subtract as many light bulbs necessary to achieve that prime lighting.

The abacus is an ancient counting frame tool that can aid in addition, multiplication, subtraction, and division. While they have been used for centuries, abacuses are still made today, often with a bamboo frame and sliding wires stocked with counting beads. Taking inspiration from the ancient mathematical tool, designer Pranjal Uday developed Abaculux, a modular light fixture that takes the same shape as an abacus, allowing users to add and subtract light bulbs however they choose.

The Abaculux is a minimalist light fixture, rising as a single standing rod with a collection of golden light bulbs lining it up and down. Outfitted with a flared trumpet base, Abaculux is bottom-heavy with a steady build that manages to carry multiple light bulbs at once. Uday created Abaculux in part to make the energy consumption of light more apparent by revealing to users how much light they use in a visual presentation they can actually count.

When users want to add a bulb to the electrical rod, they can be slid down and onto the dock where they light up once connected to the pole’s conduction terminals. Following the same method, users can add or subtract however many light bulbs necessary for their preferred lighting. The lightbulbs can also be configured in varying layouts, allowing users to bunch the bulbs at the bottom or appear more spread out over the pole.

Designed for users to witness how much energy they consume when using light fixtures like lamps and LEDs, Pranjal Uday’s Abaculux is a clever reinterpretation of the ancient counting tool we’ve relied on for accurate measurement for centuries. Inspired by the abacus’s shape and design, Abaculux is familiar in appearance but unconventional in design, enhancing its ergonomic build and savvy look.

Designer: Pranjal Uday

Users can either let the light bulbs bunch up at the pole’s bottom or leave them to spread out. 

The conduction terminal gives light to each bulb when connected.

The post A modular light fixture inspired by the abacus lets you add, subtract and have fun with your light setup! first appeared on Yanko Design.

This clay humidifier, filter, lamp and planter is inspired from sustainable Brazilian traditions!

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Clay filters are common in Brazilian homes and designer Lucas Couto brings the best of them to more household appliances. Clay is an organic and natural material used by many developing nations because it is cost-effective, versatile, and easily available. Terracotta earthenware in the kitchen is an ingenious practice that is finding its way back into our modern lives and Couto extends the benefits of this material to lamps, filters, and humidifiers.

“I intended to respect the heritage, avoiding an approach to simply “modernize” the filter. I wanted to create a unique form factor that takes advantage of the materials and manufacturing process while introducing new functional features, such as a handle to assist in lifting the upper reservoir and a base to support a drinking glass,” he adds, “The cooling property of the ceramic inspired me to design a humidifier. This is a much-needed item in my hometown of Belo Horizonte, where the air can get very dry throughout the year.” Clay filters are actually proven to eliminate toxins from water through its existing properties while also keeping it cool according to research published in the book The Drinking Water Book: How to Eliminate Harmful Toxins from Your Water. The efficient filtration is a result of the gravity process, where water passes through the candles and drips slowly into the lower reservoir.

Couto wanted to create a multi-sensorial experience fostered by the terracotta. He retained the color, the textures, and the gradient caused by water absorption for visuals and touch. The water drops inside the filter and the vitrified sound of the material produce a soothing sound. Terracotta naturally smells like earth after rain and it also adds a unique flavor to water. The cooling property of the ceramic is why Couto made the humidifier too. All components are placed in the lid, which also contains a level indicator to assist the user with keeping the humidifier filled. The lamp and the planter were additions to the series to showcase the material in various forms outside the kitchen use. The planter has a two-compartment design to take advantage of capillarity for petrichor! The inner part of the pendant lamp is covered with a white glaze to increase light reflection while the terracotta prevents it from overheating. The clay range is organic, warm, functional, and aesthetic!

Designer: Lucas Couto

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These window-like lighting fixtures create playful geometric light displays when opened!

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There are some architects whose work transcends their medium and pours into in-between spaces of the design world. Tadao Ando and Luis Barragán, for instance, might be aptly known for their artful geometric structures formed primarily from plastered concrete, but they’re perhaps better known for the ways they use light to dance and interact with the angles and surfaces formed from those concrete structures. Inspired by the renowned architects’ masterful uses of light, Brazilian designer Luiza Guidi created Māyā, a collection of simple lamp fixtures that when opened create enchanting light displays.

In Hinduism, Māyā is, “the power by which the universe becomes manifest; the illusion or appearance of the phenomenal world,” as Guidi notes. Appropriately described as an illusion, Māyā contains a lot more than meets the eye. When closed, the simple lamp structure almost appears as an empty picture frame hanging on the wall. When opened, in a similar fashion to that of a book, Māyā disperses light and forms geometric shadows and angles against the wall from which it hangs.

Constructed from steel rods with a hinge opening method, the minimalistic lamp fixtures can be peeled open to form multiple sets of different angles. When Māyā’s steel rods are fully unfurled, forming an obtuse angle with the lamp’s hinges, the initially concealed lamp fills the wall with warm, golden light and slim, fractal dark shadows. Then, when only slightly opened, larger geometric shadows are framed with soft beams of light. As Guidi puts it, Māyā embodies, “the simplest design with a bewitching result.”

Designer: Luiza Guida

Depending on how far you open Māyā’s hinged lamp, dazzling shadows and angles light up the wall from where it hangs.

Constructed from steel rods, Māyā’s lamp initially remains concealed.

When closed, Māyā appears as an empty photo frame.

When left ajar, Māyā pours golden light across the wall and forms darker shapes and fractals from shadows.

When opened only slightly, Māyā’s center shadow element is bordered with slim beams of golden light.

This magnetic mood lamp’s portable design comes with a 360-degree charging stand!

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And at the beginning of 2021, we all said, “Let there be light!” Enter the Tune, a minimal portable lamp designed for indoor and outdoor use. Tune is not meant to be the main source of light in a space and falls into the ambient light category with its soft illumination. It is called Tune because it lets you ‘tune’ the lamp the mood of the hour. You can tune it to create an atmosphere for dinner in the garden or for cozy movie night – you decide the mood lighting, the lamp will be attuned to it.

It is a smart lamp for future homes complete with a 360-degree charging stand and wireless charging capabilities. You can get the most out of this product design by having a set of two or three lamps to achieve optimal flexibility and space illumination. The modular stands and lampshades let you play around with the light set up. Each arm of the stand has wireless charging transmitters and profiled positioning dents with magnets to hold it in place – this makes the lamp an overall seamless product design.

Tune is designed to stand horizontally, vertically, or on the side depending on your needs. It features a knob that allows you to adjust the intensity as well as the color temperature of the light. “The critical aspects of the functioning of a portable lamp, intended for outdoor use, are durability and tightness. Therefore, great importance has been attached to the design of the external housing, which protects the internal electrical components against weather conditions, and above all, water,” explains Mikołaj Nicer.

Designer: Mikołaj Nicer

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This emotive desk lamp embodies the fondest memories of your childhood rainy days!

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Woo-bi desk lamp instantly reminds us of our childhood when we would wear brightly colored raincoats and splash water everywhere as we walked around with our friends.

‘Woo-bi’ literally means raincoat in Korean and the emotional design expresses a child’s innocence through soft lighting. Complete with a little ‘hood’, the playful form and warm CMF really connects with the user. We love the form of this design and the hat adds in functionality by being movable – just as it protects you from the rain, move the hat to control your exposure to the lamp’s brightness. Another fun feature is the knob of the lamp, which doubles as the tip of the umbrella/hat and helps you dim/brighten the lamp as needed. The charging point comes with a magnet for quick docking. If the yellow is too chirpy, there is a green variant to soothe your eyes!

The minimal desk lamp is sure to spark joy even on gloomy days.

Designer: Jaekyoung Oh

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IKEA’s iconic Allen key has grown up into a quirky lamp created by a Japanese design studio!

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Who is Allen, and why are we always losing his key? Bad joke, I know, but it is true that we are always losing our Allen keys, and thanks to Murphy’s law it will happen at the exact time you need it, and of course, it will not be where you left it. IKEA is famous for easy assembly furniture and always includes Allen keys, and Japanese design studio Gelchop did us all a favor by blowing up the iconic instrument so we will never miss it. Gelchop designed a lamp for IKEA Art Event 2021 that pays tribute to the nifty furniture assembly tool, and I just have to say that the Allen key has really ‘grown up’ and since it is a light, it is safe for me to say this is also a ‘glow up’.

The L-shaped lamp is a part of a 10-piece homeware collection by IKEA where the brand has collaborated with five different artists and designers, including Sabine Marcelis and Snarkitecture co-founder Daniel Arsham. The collection aims to explore the sweet spot between art and function. “The traditional idea of art being high-end and design being part of mass culture simply is not relevant anymore. The two go fantastic together – that is where the magic happens,” said Henrik Most, creative leader at IKEA and someone who is making the ‘most’ of what these designers have to offer with their quirky ideas.

Gelchop is widely known to recontextualize everyday objects and for IKEA they focused on the Allen key because it is everpresent in their products and is an icon to their flat-pack furniture assembly style. The lamp sticks to the original tool’s form and keeps its distinctive, angular shape even as a lamp. The studio mentions their aim was to help ‘arguably the most iconic IKEA item of all’ have its time in the spotlight and they took it literally by transforming it into a light! “The design is lightweight and easily portable. The Allen key symbolizes the essence of IKEA but it’s rarely at the center of attention. As a tool that is used to assemble furniture, the Allen wrench has a small, insignificant existence. But I have changed it into a larger item that is different from its everyday size.” said Gelchop co-founder Ryota Morikawa.

Turning it into a supersize version of the original tool design emphasizes its graphic lines while LEDs hidden behind a diffuser on the underside emitting a soft, indirect, almost ambient light. The frame is made from anodized aluminum and can be propped against a wall, lain on its side, or moved around depending on your needs. What salt is to a dish is what the Allen key is to IKEA – never the star of the show but absolutely essential in the creation of it. Time to go on a treasure hunt around my apartment and gather all those lost IKEA Allen keys, it is their time to shine under the Queen Allen key which has a hexagonal glowing halo thanks to its new purpose.

Designer: Gelchop

 

 

 

3D Printing meets traditional Italian glassmaking techniques with this innovative lighting design!

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Light fixtures have the potential to give your room the accent piece needed to completely open it up with just the right amount of warm, soft light or bursts of ample, bright light. Designing new and unique light fixtures is no easy feat though and the designers behind HorizON, a suspension lamp with an elliptical form designed and constructed in Italy’s glass-making capital, Murano, took it upon themselves to completely reimagine the future of lighting design.

On the inspiration behind HorizON, the designers say, “HorizON lamp is based on the belief that the industry of the next years won’t only evolve through a constant, technological upgrade of products, but reconsider values such as uniqueness, hand-making, and even ‘imperfection.’” Through HorizON, the creators reconsider design values by transmuting classic, craftsman artistry with 21st-century technological capabilities. HorizON’s final product is comprised of two main parts: a glass bubble crafted through a tried-and-true glassmaking tradition that enwraps its 3D-printed, LED-filled centerpiece.

HorizON’s ultimate glass bubble forms from two separate halves that are individually shaped, ground, and polished by hand in order to resemble two individual, transparent petals. Sculpting the glass petals into their final forms takes upwards of two days to finish. Once the hot glass is shaped and ground into a flower petal, the glassmakers take at least one day for the glass to cool down before polishing it to completion. The glassmaker utilizes CNC-milled molds in order to produce the wavy, dangling glass. CNC-milled molds follow a sculpting process that essentially chisels away at masses of the desired material, which emphasizes both meticulousness through learned craftsmanship and freeform thanks to the human touch. Through this handmade design and construction process, each final piece of artwork is distinct and filled with sought-after imperfections. In between the two glass petals hovers the fixture’s 3D-printed core, which illuminates come night from integrated LED lighting mechanisms.

The bright light emanates from inside golden clouds that meet the outer edges of the 3D-printed core’s semi-transparent, nylon lining. Internal cavities dot the design’s core and offer unique glimmers of light and shadows for your room that change with each manufactured HorizON suspension lamp. Love is in the imperfections with this suspended light fixture design and thankfully, there are as many imperfections as there are reasons for them.

Designers: Arturo Tedeschi, Michael Pryor and Pavlina Vardoulaki


Full Dimension: 460 x 320 mm, Maximum Thickness: 55 mm


LED strip: 3.5 mm/24V/3000K, Lamp’s total weight: 2kg

A pulley mechanism based lamp designed to add a playful interaction with everyday furniture!

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The right piece of furniture can truly make or break the aesthetics of a space. It is about good design and not expensive pieces (although, they do sometimes go hand in hand). While we always pay more attention to the bigger pieces that arguably catch the eye like tables and couches, it is the supporting elements like good lighting that can elevate your interior game – almost literally with this Pulley lamp!

As the name suggests, the conceptual pulley-based lamp adds a dynamic and playful element to the otherwise standard floor lamp which never makes you go “Wow, where’d you get that?”. This lamp reveals geometric movements as a feature of the design. “The focus was on purely revealing the structure of the lamp and the pulley that supports the lamp,” says Kim. Using the sliding switch will slightly tilt the lamp upwards to turn it off and the reverse motion will restore it back to its resting position which is perpendicular to the pole. It is more of a focus light that can help with reading or working as opposed to the traditional floor lamp that provides an ambient light by usually dimly flooding the ceiling which isn’t helpful for the purpose mentioned earlier.

The lamp itself is minimal and sleek, it could fit unobtrusively with any modern interior theme. It almost looks as if Apple launched a lamp because of its simple aesthetics, clean linear design, and the signature white tones. If the concept includes a sound that goes with the tactile feature of turning the light on/off it would be great – who doesn’t love a satisfying, animated click sound! It certainly makes for a lovely upgrade from those black-pole-inverted-lampshade floor lamps that we all had in our 20s!

Designer: Seongju Kim

A portable wireless lamp that does the job of 5 in 1

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Light designs always fascinate me because while each of them does light up the room, they do it in such unique ways. Float is a cute battery-powered lamp that was designed to mimic the ambient restaurant light anywhere you want – you know the one where they put candles in a bottle or have the dim stand-alone lamps? Italian brand Axolight gave Float life and that is when people saw how ‘lit’ this product truly was!

Float is a versatile light because it can be placed on the table, used as a lamp, fixed on a wall, or even hang as a pendant depending on your needs. It was made to be adaptable to any space and also be moved around easily when required. Float’s minimal shape and form let it blend in both indoor and outdoor spaces be at home or in a restaurant patio. You can also place it on top of an empty bottle and have your own pretend-restaurant. Float floats on any base you want and comes with a 5-step touch dimmer that lets you adjust the lighting to your mood. The battery lasts for 9 hours so you can use this light wirelessly as well.

It comes in five different colors and it works well for any demographic or industry – put it up in your child’s room or your dining table and it will still look good! The multifunctional, portable, indoor-outdoor lamp makes it easier for you to style your space without spending hours browsing through lamps and never being able to pick one that ‘goes with everything’. Since it is rechargeable, you don’t have to worry about keeping an extra stock of lightbulbs either. This lamp is the silver ‘lighting’ of 2020 and a part of the flexible furniture world that we love.

Designer: Mario Alessiani for Axolight