Lighting Engines
11/5/19 — Introduction
In class we discussed the purpose of lights and how integrated lighting fixtures are in our daily lives. We habitually turn on the switch without knowing our hands moved to move allow us to have light. It’s interesting to note that culture and context plays a role in this minute activity. People who grew up in Alaska might not have a need to turn on the light versus someone in Cali who grew up with plenty of light around them. In some cultures the light switch can be a string, a sensor, or even Alexa. Steve was asking us intriguing questions on who controls the placement of the light, and what kind of light is placed depending on the room. There were 5 main elements with lighting Engines:
- Navigation — it helps us see
- Ambient — it provides a mood
- Task — it helps with our duties (i.e. dentist/doctor lights)
- Decorative — it serves as art and design
- Accent — it can be directive (i.e. museum lights)
I am excited to dive into this project because of its exploratory beginnings and unlimited design potential. We have the freedom to use adhesives, and there aren’t a lot of constraints compared to our container project.
My objective for this project is to
design a lighting engine that supports eating a meal with a few friends in a home
11/6/19 — Inspiration
The first place I looked for lighting inspiration was the instagram posts I saved previously. I generally save product designs and a good portion of them are on lighting design. While looking through my catalog, I searched for a type of lighting that would be appropriate for a dinner table. I wanted my lighting engine to relate with food which provide feelings of comfort, warmth, and satisfaction.
Every one of the lighting designs I chose had an organic shape to it and were interwoven with each other. There are rarely any straight lines and the different shapes seems to be linked. While looking at these designs, I was trying to figure out who my user would be. They would be people coming together to enjoy a meal with good company. I want my lighting engine to be able to bring people closer together and be able to share intimate discussions and stories together. The lighting fixture should not disrupt their views from each other but rather enhances the overall mood of their conversations. Warm and soft lighting would be ideal. The light can either hang above their heads or below the users eye level. It should not be distracting, but interesting enough to be a good starter topic for the guests enjoying the design.
It’s important to keep in mind that my lighting fixture is inside a home, and not a restaurant. I believe that during the process of creating my design, I have to be careful not to make it look like it belongs inside a restaurant. The design has to look intimate so that a group of close friends can enjoy each other’s company. I do not want my light to be foreboding, but rather a subtle complimentary object to the setting. There would be cutlery, plates, food, and drinks, out on the table. It should all work in relation to each other. I hope that my lighting engine will draw people together and push the audience to lean in closer during dinner.
Testing Paper — Plain Paper & Tracing Paper
I really enjoyed the layering quality of the plain paper. The tracing paper had a similar character, but had an ethereal nature to the paper. Handling the tracing paper was difficult because of how fragile it is, but I enjoy the porousness of the paper. There are small dots and specks that make the tracing paper feel like a Japanese paper door. It blurs the layers behind it much more than the plain paper. I am still debating whether or not I would like to show the layering more prominently or not.
11/11/19 — 1st Iteration
For this part of the process, it was important to try different designs without getting too specific on the type of design. Since my goal for this lighting engine is to have an organic shape, I decided to keep the designs curved and natural. I was using the inspiration board to find out how to curve and shape the paper material.
I believe most of my designs are pretty complex. I used the reused the same paper cut out to create different designs. It was a process of sticking the tape together, taking a photo of what I made, unsticking the tape, creating a new design, snapping a photo again, peeling the tape off, and so on. I learned that the same flat cut out shape can create multiple and intricate patterns in a three dimensional form.
The photo on the left is a straight down cut out on tracing paper. The one on the right is a curved cut out on regular printer paper. I enjoy the translucency of the tracing paper, but it does not have the strength to hold up certain shapes because of its thin quality. The printer paper is able to hold its form, but makes it harder for the light to shine through. I think I will use both paper to play with these different qualities of paper. There are some areas that I want more light to shine through which could be used with tracing paper, and for the ones that require it to hold its form; I can use the printer paper.
11/12/19 — Class Critique 1
During class, I shared one of my designs to share my approach with this project. I decided to go for a clam shell design because it encapsulates all the curves and organic gestures of my designs.
I received multiple critiques on my design. The first one being the most obvious; the light bulb shows in my design. From this comment, I know that moving forward I should either use tracing paper or a lighter paper to cover the exposed areas in my lighting engine. Another important point I learned was that the design allows for certain areas to look amazing, while in other angles the design is lacking. I agree with this statement because the back side of this design looks complicated and folded in awkward points of the paper. The viewpoint I took the photo in is the ideal side, while the back side tries to stay hidden from sight. I believe the tricky part about having organic designs is this unique problem. How can I design a natural, and gestural shape without it looking off in certain angles? Another critique I received was craftsmanship. At this point in the project, the craft is not emphasized, but I’m beginning to realize that it may be tricky to design a shape that stays in place so that I don’t have to tape the paper to the wires of the bulb.
11/13/19–2nd Iteration
From the feedback I received, I used tracing paper to cover the bulb from showing in my lighting engine. I made some adjustments in my previous iterations with the same adjustments.
From adding the tracing paper, I noticed that the design itself became a little more stiffer than without the paper underneath. I used tape to attach the tracing paper to the printer paper and in doing so, the double layers made it less flexible. I believe craft plays a huge role in this part of the design when adding more layers to an object. It was easier to bend and mold the paper when it was a singular layer.
I went back to the material I was using and played with its textures and forms. I put the printer paper flat on my table and tested the different ways it curves in different pressure points. Some of the curves alternate depending on how taught the paper is in some areas. In other tests, the paper envelopes a corner when all the pressure leans to one point.
I really enjoyed the multiple layered aspects of the slits in the paper. I decided to push it to the extreme by creating two of these slits and attaching it on another plain paper. I connected the two separate piece together and layered it on top of each other. This resulted in a very complex helix that had a lot of activity in its design. I expect this design to be higher than eye level and closer to the ceiling. I cant imagine it being anywhere closer to the user because of its elaborate and distracting features; however, it may be inviting to some people. This design takes up a lot of space and should be in a home that is spacious and modern. I can see this lighting placed at the center of a dinner table — almost like a chandelier.
11/14/19 — Paper Experiments
After adopting the spiral design from my previous iteration. I believed it was a good point to start experimenting with different types of paper to use for the final product. I want to use a thicker paper than the printer paper and use one with a warm white tone. I experimented with three different types of thick warm paper.
From looking at these different tonal qualities, I believe the most appropriate color would be the warm yellow tone coming from Stonehenge Warm White. The yellow atmosphere it created felt warm and inviting and works better with the light that I am using. Since the bulb and the paper are both a yellowish warm color, the overall mood of the space feels welcoming and enjoyable to have dinner with friends. The Canson white came across as more white than what the picture shows and the Railroad Board White emitted blotchy textures. These textures made it seem cloth like and seemed it would work better in a living room setting than a dining table. It also omitted a pink, fleshy tone which I do not think would be appetizing to look at during a meal.
From the new paper, I decided to created more iterations. The feedback I received for this light engine was that it didn’t feel intentional. Rather it seemed as if the paper was but together on the spot. The comments were accurate and reflected my working process. I enjoy the journey of discovering certain curves and angles that I forget about intentionality.
11/18/19–3rd Iteration
Reflecting on the critique on intentionality, I wanted to recreate the spiral helix design I made with the printing paper; however, in the process I learned that the different paper quality made it incredibly difficult to fold the paper in the correct way. The angles it bent in was not acting the same way the printer paper had. This caused a lot of frustration and redos on getting the shape accurate. After multiple attempts, I concluded that I would need to work with a different shape to curve the Stonehenge paper in a proper manner.
For this iteration, I wanted to focus on intentionality and thought it would be interesting to go for a slightly different form. Taking after my spiral helix design, I used a cone shape layering technique to create depth within the light engine.
I really enjoyed the colors that came through from using the Stonehenge warm white paper. I believe it really captured the mood of a soft dining table setting with friends.
Critique
After receiving my critique on this design, I realized I didn’t see something that was right in front of my face. It looks like a hive! I was surprised at myself for not realizing this sooner and felt that I should work on a completely different design. The last image I would like to give to the user is a visual of bugs while they are trying to have dinner.
Another point that stood out to me was to include an audience of more than two people. The shape of a cone concludes that it is a space for two individuals rather than a group. I would like to work on that by spreading out the from and stretching it out. I believe by doing so, the form emulates a wider “arm” that includes more people at the dinner table.
11/20/19–4th Iteration
After reflecting on the critique from my peers, I elongated the shape horizontally and made it more oval. I tried to change the design from looking too bug-like.
I liked the angle in the first photo in the far left, but the overall shape of the design seemed to resemble a cow boy hat and stripped the idea of a lamp. It also had a hole at the bottom which was not my intention for the final iteration. I learned that I do like the gathering of certain angles in which the lines are pinched in a specific area. The shapes all converge into one point, and I wanted to work with that design.
11/20/19–5th Iteration
Using the idea of the form gathering in certain angles, I used strips of paper to wrap the entire form in the middle. This was my favorite part of the design and I hope to extrapolate on the idea for the final iteration. Some of the responses I received from my peers was that it looked like a cannoli or a pasta. I thought it was an improvement from the bug comments I received before. At least it’s a correlation with food this time. Perhaps, the bug statement had a big impact on me because I still couldn’t get that image out of my head with this iteration. I believe the ridges at the bottom reminded me of a pupa or a cocoon. The symmetry of this shape emits that idea, especially with the shell like form of this design.
11/25/19 — Final Iteration
For my final iteration I decided to stay away from an ovular form because it was too similar to the shape of a bug, pupa, or caterpillar. I decided to utilize the central curves of my previous design and really bring it out in the final iteration. From experimenting with the paper, I decided to have two gatherings of the paper lines and made them cross each other. I believe the front of this final iteration shows intentionality and reminds viewers of a type of food. I was pushing towards a dumpling or empanada shape which could correlate well with my prompt of eating dinner with friends.
