shellLight was designed through a rigorous process of prototype and evaluation. I started with a few key principles for the design. I wanted to design a flatpack light fixture and I wanted the fixture to be both adaptable for different lighting conditions and easily transportable. I decided I would use the technology of the lasercutter for fabrication, since the lasercutter pairs well with flatpack design.
After making these key decisions about the design criteria for my fixture, I started building models. For my first Light and Shadow assignment, I had made a simple 12×12 screen out of strips of paper that could be manipulated by a string. The simple adaptability of this screen is still attractive to me. I like the idea of something made of flat material displaying a sense of movement and motion. I decided that a sense of motion was important for the light fixture, and that it would be interesting for this motion to factor into the adaptability of the design.
As I started playing with strips of paper, varying size and length, I continued to think about how this fixture could be simplified. When I began to think about the light bulb, the cord, and the hardware, my design began to refine. I knew that the interface between the light source and the paper would have to be the hardware. I made a trip to the hardware store and purchased a few carriage bolts, nuts, and wing nuts. With this hardware, a hole punch, and my strips of paper, I started to integrate all these pieces together. I found that these strips could easily become fins, having enough structural integrity to make an intriguing nautilus form.
As an additional inspiration, I was looking at the work of Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec for my Light and Shadow Inspiration Presentation. The most fascinating thing about their projects was the inherit simplicity of their designs. I continued to think about how to simplify, simplify, simplify. (View Ronan & Erwan’s portfolio of work @ http://www.bouroullec.com).
When I began to refine the design, I was thinking about the safety of the light bulb and how the fixture would be able to both hang from the ceiling and rest on a tabletop. I made a second trip to the hardware store with my prototypes and sketches, and found just the right hardware which integrated a center hole for the cord with outside bolts for the layering of the fins.
The final adaptations dealt with the material and the exact change in length required between each fin to allow them to slip past each other easily, but also provide enough friction to stay in place. I experimented with some plastic/semi-transparent materials, but these materials proved to be too slippery for comfort. I also experimented with gold colored fins, but felt the addition of color did not improve the beauty of the design. I settled for a soft butter board material, which provided both a warm off-white tone and the perfect rigidity for the design.
During my final critique, the visiting reviewers provided some insightful feedback. As I think about the future of the fixture design, I would like to think more critically about the integration of the cord. I would also like to experiment with wood veneer, creating a fixture that might have a sense of being an artifact. This would play into the natural shell, nautilus form. I would also like to look at longer bolt connections, allowing for a more bulbous form. This change in shape could create a totally different design.
ShellLight has been a fun exploration. I have enjoyed the process of designing a light fixture.
My annotated bibliography and other sources of inspiration can be viewed at: