For general inspiration for my light fixture design, I have been searching through many Product Design books and magazines.  In Design Now! (pp. 78-83), written by Charlotte & Peter Fiell, I came across the creative work of Ronan & Erwan Bouroullec.  These brothers collaborate on projects ranging from Persian Rugs to CNC milled chairs to fabric screens.  They site their very different personalities and design styles as the success of their collaboration.  Their work focuses on the adaptive use of traditional geometries, the conglomeration of pieces to make greater wholes, and the vivid use of color in nontraditional and unexpected ways.

I was first drawn to their work when I saw the project ‘North Tiles.’  This project is a series of prefabricated fabric wall tiles that are used to manipulate interior environments.  The panels have a foam core that also makes them sound absorbing.  When I began researching their work further, I found two additional projects that inspired me with the work I am doing for light and shadow.  Both ‘Rocs’ and ‘Clouds’ work with prefabricated pieces that are integrated to make larger installations.  The felt tiles used in ‘Clouds’ are strung together  and can be bent and warped in interesting ways to create dynamic shapes.  The softness of the material used and the play of intense color makes these installations attractive.

You can search through all of the Bourollec Brother’s work on their design website, http://www.bouroullec.com/.   The projects I have shown are only a small part of their amazing work.

All of the images that I have included in this post come from this website.  The images are grouped by project in the order ‘clouds,’ ‘rocs,’ and then ‘north tiles.’