Design brief 

Designing a lamp for a member of family.

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Identifying user - Sarah

For this assignment, I decided to design a lamp for my mum, Sarah. When I received this design brief, I instantly thought of her. She is the only person I know that uses a lamp almost every night and has a genuine interest in light fixtures. 

Before interviewing Sarah, I knew that she has an interest in gardening, sustainability and the community. I found an opportunity to design a lamp that she would enjoy, uses, appreciate but also benefit her. 

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Design Statement 

From the initial interviewing to now, I have gained a deeper understanding of what my mum is looking for in a lamp. 

My main goal for this project is to design a lamp suitable for Sarah and fulfil her wants for a lamp. I wanted to solve Sarah’s problem of her not liking the way that her current lamp looks.

Through the technique of interviewing and using mood boards, I have managed to define her general interests for a lamp, the style of lamps mum likes, and what materials she likes. From this information, I intend to design a lamp that is:

 

- Helps her read her book and phone at night

- Made from a unique/irregular material 

- Environmentally sustainable

- Fit in the place where her current lamp is placed - physically  and aesthetically

- Made in the design FabLab

 

When designing for someone else, it is essential to consider their needs and wants but also important to keep your design style. Luckily Sarah and I have a common interest in sustainability. As we have this common interest, it was easy for me to apply her wants. As I am interested in packaging design, I think it would be interesting to incorporate packaging design elements that add my style to the lamp. 

For this lamp to be auspicious, it would’ve fulfilled all the listed specifications above. 

From developing a relationship about design with my client, I have found it interesting that Sarah believes the aesthetics of a lamp is just as crucial as its function or even slightly more important. I think it is fair to say that both Sarah and I believe she has a big passion for sustainability; however, I believe Sarah would compromise slightly for the aesthetic of the lamp over sustainability. This insight is useful to note as it would give me more chance to experiment with different material without having to be continually thinking about material waste. 

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Ideating

 

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Visualisation Prototype

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Specification Prototype

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What worked well 

This lamp will be valued by people that are interested in sustainability and like unique, handmade items. When designing this lamp I wanted to get it exactly how I wanted. This meant that I had to do a lot of research on every aspect of this lamp to my clients wants. It is essential for my client, and I believe for many, to feel as though they could have as much input into the design as possible. This lamp is made from materials that were laying around my house, which is a massive bonus as there were no materials wasted. 

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What needs improvement

There is always room for improvements. The main improvement that I could make would be to test this lamp thoroughly. At the moment, this lamp is just a mockup and doesn't work. For next time I would test out different lightbulbs, as well as possibly different switches. I would also like to experiment more with different materials if I got access to them. This would improve my design as it would provide me with more opportunities to experiment and expand. 

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