Some of the most famous blobjects to appear in stores since the trend first exploded in the late 1990s, like the Bobble water bottle, were created by Egyptian-born designer Karim Rashid. Now, Rashid has teamed up with Gantri to create “Kobble,” a biomorphic lighting collection that aims to infuse your home with sensuality.

Kobble consists of four lamps: a vaguely egg-shaped table light, a bulbous floor lamp, an elongated wall light, and a fun task light sort of reminiscent of an animated creature. All of them are inspired by the idea that shapes affect our mood, with soft edges evoking a sense of harmony and positive energy.

Rashid wanted each one to be both iconic and accessible, looking like something that could be in a modern art museum but also functional and easy to use. They come in four colors: carbon black, blossom pink, sprout green, and glossy snow white.

“This collection shares the human-friendly shape language of my design sensibility – I used soft edges because the human form is soft,” Rashid says. “They are more than just lights, they are statement pieces that function as companions to the owner’s lifestyle and tastes.”

The $148 Kobble Wall Light is envisioned as the perfect addition to bedrooms and darkened corners, measuring nine inches tall. The 18-inch $248 Kobble Task Light was created with small urban apartments in mind, providing directional light without sacrificing style. The diminutive 9.5-inch $198 Kobble Table Light casts a soft glow upward for ambient lighting, and the $398 Kobble Floor Light provides an alternative to overhead lighting standing 64 inches tall.

The designs are inspired by cobblestones, hence their name. “Cobblestone is a soft form that is universal,” Rashid says. “It feels at home anywhere just like the Kobble lights. I love geological forms that appeal to the senses. I see this collection as a reflection of sensual minimalism – the ergonomic character that makes lighting inviting and comfortable.”

Rashid is a highly prolific designer with over 4,000 designs in production and over 400 awards. A look through his portfolio reveals many blobjects with a similar feel to Kobble. Nearly every piece is sinuous and ergonomic, the kind of design that makes you want to cradle it in your arms. Along with the Bobble, you might recognize some popular consumer products found in your local Target, like the rounded EOS lip balm packaging, the classic Umbra trash can, and other items designed for brands like Sony, Soda Stream, 3M and Haier.

“I believe that we could be living in a totally different world – one that is full of real contemporary inspiring objects, spaces, places, worlds, spirits and experiences,” Rashid says. “Design has been the cultural shaper of our world from the start. We have designed systems, cities, and commodities. We have addressed the world’s problems. Now design is not about solving problems, but about a rigorous beautification of our built environments.”

The post Karim Rashid’s Kobble Lamps Channel Sensual Minimalism – and Blobjects first appeared on Dornob.

Working with multidisciplinary designer Luca Nichetto, the global furniture brand recently released “Space Invaders,” an eclectic assortment of objects with “bold character.” Comprised of bright colors and simple lines, the pieces overlap and intermingle, getting up close and personal rather than keeping a safe six-foot distance from each other.

“Table and floor lamps, small tables with integrated light and trays find their own aesthetic in the juxtaposition of material and shapes that interpenetrate each other, marking an invasion of space that creates an original modularity,” the Stellar Works website says. “It is in this way that a luminous pearl stands between the base and the top of the side table, or that a series of glass spheres fill the metal structure of the lamps, or that the solidity of wooden trays find their balance resting on ceramic stones, while other trays with a yo-yo shape fit one another, creating multiple combinations. The result is a playful group of timeless design objects, able to invade a variety of environments.”

The Dhala table and floor lamps are made up of odd numbers of colorful Murano glass beads that are illuminated from within by warm LED strips, while the Space Invaders’ Hoba side table is just under a foot tall and integrates yet another illumined Murano bead. The cylindrical lamp assaults the nothingness created by the matching black discs that form the base and tabletop.

The collection’s trays further explore intersecting matter. The irregular-shaped Kaali tray is poised on a small circle in a way that makes it look like they both occupy the same space. Meanwhile, the Lonar tray consists of two circular plates conjoined in the center but with an empty void between them, allowing several units to interlock in an array of multi-hued patterns.

Stellar Works describes them as “objects devoted not only to invade the environment in which they are located, but also composed of elements that are different in shape and materiality, which surprisingly mix and steal each other’s space.”

Italian-born Nichetto says of the collection: “Space Invaders is a perfect example of our mission at Nichetto Studio to show the beauty in function. The collection demonstrates our shared belief with Stellar Works in understanding the strengths and limitations of different techniques to give purpose to forms and ensure the enjoyment of the user.”

With offices in Venice and Stockholm, Nichetto’s eponymous design group has been making innovative products of all shapes, sizes, and functionalities since 2009. One of their more recent endeavors saw them create whimsical window displays for the reopening of the Hermès Milan flagship store.

According to the Stellar Works website, this work is really about storytelling: “The concepts we design can objectify just as well into a pencil, a chair, a building, or a brand. We tell emotional tales built on a vocabulary of materials and animated by a grammar of form.”

Nichetto and Stella Works have fulfilled that narrative directive with the new Space Invaders collection, visually pushing back against the physical and emotional social distancing of the last two years.

The post Stellar Works’ Space Invaders Lamps Get Up Close and Personal first appeared on Dornob.

Titled “21’ Abandon Darkness,” referencing a new Anglepoise brand slogan, Akhtar’s reinvention of the task light takes inspiration from Anglepoise lamps’ “ability to illuminate and demarcate, something we have all needed help with this past year, as work, study, and leisure have all bled into one.” Her version starts with what looks like a ceramic jug, adding a swiveling strip of LED lights perfect for illuminating a work surface.

Akhtar started with a plaster model “made to get a sense of shape and visualize ideas,” she explains. “At this point, the discussion into how the light source will work within the product began to develop. 21 is the next generation of iconic Anglepoise lamp, revamped and reimagined to encourage deep productive work and support well-being.”

The Staffordshire University graduate created the lamp as part of her final school projects. In the past, she has experimented with different shapes that give her ceramics a variety of moods, like Brutalist forms crafted on a plaster lathe and simple ceramic spheres pierced with holes to act as the base of a small table. But Akhtar’s ceramics are perhaps at their most interesting when they embrace irregularity, softness, and asymmetrical shapes, as with the bases for her Wedgwood lighting project.

The Wedgwood series is a modular lighting concept Akhtar has been working on since 2019. She was invited, along with two other students in the 3D Design Maker degree course, to propose concepts for functional wares and lighting that focus on the theme of well-being for Wedgwood, a British fine china and porcelain company known for being one of the largest manufacturers of Staffordshire pottery.

“Knowing that Wedgwood wanted to continue with my lighting design and believed that it fits well with their brand, has given me a [boost] of confidence in myself as a designer-maker,” Akhtar told Ceramic Review. “It felt rewarding to know that I was able to design a product with a specific live brief.”

Ahktar took inspiration from traditional Wedgwood ceramic designs and her research into contemporary lighting, looking specifically at stackable shapes that would ultimately give her design its modularity. After modernizing the shapes she found in old Wedgwood catalogs, the designer crafted her unique table lamps that glow softly from within the ceramic forms. Akhtar’s Instagram provides a fun inside look at her process, from early sketches to the final finished objects.

“Design made me think in a methodical and rational way,” Akhtar told Wallpaper. “It also stimulated my thinking and got the cogs spinning – I love it when that happens, and I like the practical side. In the past year I’ve come to appreciate ‘thinking through making.’”

The post Soyida Akhtar Reimagines Classic British Lamps with a Contemporary Twist first appeared on Dornob.

In a Kickstarter campaign that’s already garnered six times its original funding goal, the Milan-based Krill team is planning to mass produce small lamps made mostly from food waste, specifically the peels of two Sicilian oranges.

“We wanted to create a special piece, beautiful and useful as well as sustainable, so everyone can have something unique in their home that not only decorates the room but tells a story of revolution,” says product designer Victoria R. Schön in an official campaign video.

That revolution is the circular economy idea gaining steam with companies all around the world, with the eventual aim of recycling and reusing all product waste. Founded in 2018 by Ivan Calimani and Yack H. Di Maio, Krill Designs is a company dedicated to combining the need to recycle waste and the need to create new products through material research, design, and innovation. The Krill team hopes the Ohmie will be one step in changing paradigms so that “’sustainable’ will stop being an adjective and will become the norm.”

“We [didn’t] just want to make a change in design. We wanted to make this change beautiful and meaningful,” says Krill co-founder and CEO Calimani. “We have been developing biomaterials for almost three years, helping corporate be more sustainable and crafting eco design products for them. It’s time to use our expertise to make a product just for you.”

To make the petite and visually intriguing lamp, the designers at Krill obtained discarded peels from the food industry, dried them, and ground them into a powder. After being blended with a plant-derived biopolymer, the mixture was squeezed into a filament and fed into a 3D printer in a continuous spiral-like movement. This technique, called “vase mode,” gives the Ohmie its distinctive ribbed texture.

The final product is a 9-inch tall, 5.3-oz table lamp that has the feel, color, and even smell of an orange. It also comes with a USB-plug power cord, a dimmer switch, and an LED bulb with an output of 70 to 90 lumens.

Thanks to the many variations in natural orange color, the Krill team says that each lamp’s particular hue will be different depending on its organic origin. “Every Ohmie will be a completely unique piece,” the campaign page says. And since they’re all made of organic material, the Italian company also says the shape of each lamp could actually change slightly over time.

Closing the production waste loop, if an Ohmie ever breaks, the lamp body is compostable, allowing the majority of its mass to return to Mother Nature to be used again in another form.

With 9 days to go before its Kickstarter deadline of August 5, the Ohmie project had already attracted 347 investors who had contributed over $37,000, far surpassing the original goal of $3,500. Those purchasing the early-bird special got a 30-percent discount off the original price, paying $85 with an expected delivery date of November 2021.

The post Italian Designers Turn Orange Peels Into Compostable Lamps first appeared on Dornob.

Both items debuted on April 1st, prompting many to wonder whether they were actually real or just an April Fool’s Day joke. But despite their tongue-in-cheek nature, these things are fully functional. Designed by Japanese firm Gelchop for IKEA’s Art Event 2021, the LED table lamp (€39/$46 USD) aims to encourage viewers to question “an object’s ‘true’ purpose in the world,” according to a press release. It’s designed to lay flat on a surface, charges via USB, and consists of aluminum and plastic. The accompanying LED torch (€25/$30 USD) comes in blue or silver and is hilariously oversized.

“The inspiration for our ideas comes from everyday experiences and objects that, with a different approach, we transform into new, fun, and playful works of art and everyday gadgets,” says Gelchop. “IKEA ART EVENT 2021 table lamp and torches are a great example of how we work. So many people associate the Allen key with IKEA, yet it has a completely different function here with our interpretation. It’s something that we hope will even be appreciated by those who are not fans of assembling furniture.”

IKEA’s sixth annual Art Event is a limited collection blurring the line between art and functional design. The brand selected five artists and designers to create pieces that capture the imagination while doubling as useful household items. The other items in the 2021 range include a dramatic black and white tabletop clock by Daniel Arsham, a slitted round wall light by Sabine Marcelis, a framed drone collection by the firm Humans since 1982, and a glass vase and blanket printed with graphic lettering by Stefan Marx.

Many people see art as something to gaze at from a respectful distance in a museum or gallery, but IKEA hopes the event will help democratize art by removing some of those boundaries and encouraging physical interaction. Truly, each one of these pieces has its own story to tell.

An official company statement on the collection reads: “Driven by curiosity, these visionaries take recognizable objects and add their unique artistic spin, shifting our view of what a simple clock or lamp, flashlight or throw, vase or picture is. Each of these pieces has a vision of its own, elevating the ordinary into the extraordinary. IKEA ART EVENT 2021 showcases the future of living with art — where it can be picked up and used as well as thoughtfully reflected upon. There are no boundaries in IKEA’s new vision; art every day for everyone.”

If you like these quirky items, you should snap them up right away, because they’ll only be available for purchase in select stores or for delivery via IKEA-USA.com through May 2021.

The post IKEA Pays Homage to Its Most Iconic Tool with a Fun Allen Key Lamp first appeared on Dornob.

That’s a big stroke of brilliance for our environment, as one-third of the average U.S. garbage dump today is made up of packaging material. And the situation’s not much better in other industrialized countries, either. According to the EU, Europeans generated roughly 174 kgs (383 pounds) of packaging waste per person in 2018.

Eliminating more of those cardboard boxes and plastic bubble wrap sheets is exactly what was on the mind of industrial design student Sungrai Kim when he invented the “Light Box.” More specifically, his concept uses the cardboard case that houses the electrical kit to become a lampshade. Its biodegradable, economical, and even gives the buyer a little origami practice.

Included in the Light Box is a mini electric light kit with three bulb modules, three solar panels, and a charging wire. The binding string that holds the package together also doubles as the hanging string, while the box itself is marked with both perforated and dotted lines, with enough material to build three separate luminescent configurations.

The first is an indoor hanging light that uses the cardboard as an adjustable lamp shade. It utilizes the package fastening strap and a retaining clip to allow a range of height and brightness.

Secondly, the Light Box can be shaped for the outdoors, similar in style to a flashlight. In this case, the carton folds up into a handheld device with an octagonal grip.

Finally, the contents can be assembled as a show light. Working like a spotlight, this configuration allows users to “enjoy a variety of shadow plays” with the four different shadow graph frames included in the packaging (one even looks like a ship with its sails unfurled). Kim, currently enrolled at Chung-Ang University in Seoul, says the show version can also provide indoor mood ambience.

Because of its solar capabilities, Kim’s creation is super versatile. It can light up your camping trips or provide a cozy glow in an apartment. It could also have widespread applications in poorer areas of the world where electricity is scarce or unreliable. Kim hopes his invention will improve the quality of life for people everywhere.

And of course, this modular lantern is revolutionary in its use of packaging as product. Most companies are simply looking for ways to make packing materials more biodegradable or more sustainably-sourced, but the Light Box is one of a kind in terms of wrapping and shipping the product in itself.

Some notable attempts to compel packaging to at least multi-task include Pizza Hut’s 2016 gimmick that saw its iconic pizza box turned into a DJ turntable, which itself could be Bluetooth-paired and controlled via smartphone phone. Later, in 2019, Puma fashioned the Clever Little Bag, a shoebox for bringing home purchases that morphed into a reusable tote after the shoes and cardboard insert were removed.

For those interested in learning more about Kim’s illuminating handiwork, his Light Box can be found exclusively on Behance.com, a social media platform that aims to “showcase and discover creative work.”

The post This Light is Made Out of Its Own Packaging first appeared on Dornob.

Fictional Map Wall Art

Green-screen Zoom backdrops are so passé, so why not add a personalized touch to your meetings with a poster or map from your favorite movie or book in the background? Many come in various pre-cut sizes, are available custom-cut, and include materials and tools for easy framing.

Logitech C270 Webcam

For the most professional presentations anywhere, you’ll find that this reasonably-priced webcam from Logitech is ideal. The high-definition 30-fps camera self-adjusts to lighting conditions and boasts a noise-reducing mic that cuts out background sounds.

Logitech H390 USB Computer Headset

This comfortable headset not only enhances sound and speaking quality, but it also lets you easily mute the mic or adjust the volume with a handy in-line audio control button. No outside noises are audible with this bad boy on, even if you’re munching on snacks during your meeting.

Logitech C920 Pro HD Webcam

Avid Zoomers love this webcam model, which includes a 78-degree field of view and a 1080p HD picture, so your images are always crisp and clear. Combine that with mics on either side and a frame rate of 60fps, and you’ve practically got yourself a professional camera.

Memory-Foam Lumbar Support Pillow

Sitting for hours at a time can have devastating effects on your body. Zoom in comfort by lining your work chair with a memory-foam lumbar support pillow. Ergonomically constructed, it improves your posture and decreases pressure on your tailbone. For extra comfort, add an extra seat cushion to your chair, too.

Saicoo LED Lamp

If want to look your best for your Zoom meetings every time, it’s important to understand that lighting is everything. This LED lamp makes you look great in a flash: simply adjust its touch-receptive panel to control brightness and color temperature. No need to worry about a low laptop battery, either, since this lamp features a built-in charging port.

Shure MVS Digital Condenser Mic

This digital condenser microphone guarantees flawless sound, and its versatile USB and iOS connectivity let you link it to all kinds of electronic devices. Best of all, an accompanying app makes sharing, recording, and editing a total breeze.

TIJN Blue Light Glasses

Hours of Zooming will inevitably take its toll on your eyes before long. These blue light glasses keep them looking fresh and reduce stress, redness, and irritation by blocking 100 percent of harmful UV rays. Plus, the lightweight frames ensure hours of comfort.

UBeesize Phone Tripod

Nothing works better to keep your Zoom presentation focused like a sturdy tripod with rubber-coated bendable legs and non-stick feet. Even better, this stand comes with a handy remote control for your phone that works as far away as 30 feet.

UBeesize Ring Light With Tripod Stand

If you really feel like optimizing your images, consider splurging on the UBeesize combination ring light and tripod. It includes warm light, daylight, and cool light rings, each of which includes a whopping 11 levels of brightness. An added perk is a remote control that lets you turn on your camera from a distance with your smartphone.

Classic Travel Posters

Add a touch of esteem and cultural savvy to your Zoom profile with vintage travel posters. Choose a favorite vacation spot, a great shot of your hometown, or a dream destination from your bucket list. Keep people wondering by changing them every few months.

The post 11 Items Sure to Make Your Zoom Meetings Better first appeared on Dornob.

Vaguely mushroom-shaped when not in use, the Overcast Light transforms once you turn it on, mimicking the look and feel of a cloud passing in front of the sun. Knauf made the shade from blended paper pulp, providing an uneven texture that controls the transmission of light from the bulb underneath.

“The LED light source is dimmed unconventionally via proximity to the shade, instead of using a dimmable driver. This is done by pulling the leather tab up or down along the side of the cylindrical base, moving the light source closer or further away from the shade,” Knauf explains.

While so many unique and sculptural home furnishings and fixtures tend to be prototypes, Overcast Light is actually available for purchase at 1stdibs for $2,200.

While Knauf has an entire portfolio full of cool furniture and decorative objects, lamps happen to be where his talents truly shine. Another notable piece is the “Alumette Floor Light,” a tall and slender LED lamp created around a structural aluminum form. Instead of using a conventional lamp shade to diffuse the light, Knauf partially encloses the bulb in a metal frame that acts as a wide angle reflector to cast softer light around the room.

The “Lloyd” lamp works in a similar fashion. A panel of LED lights hovers above your desktop, supported by two delicate steel wires sunken into a pedestal base. The panel casts a broad, even beam of light and can be swiveled to illuminate new angles or reflected off the wall for a softer effect.

The bases of floor lamps have to be quite heavy to remain stable, which is fine if you’re shopping from a local store, but gets little trickier when shipping. To address the problem, Knauf designed the “Water Based Lamp,” a collapsible floor lamp that preserves the archetype of the “solid mass” base but weighs much less.

Knauf took inspiration from the outdoor industry to create a base made of welded Duratec fabric, which is commonly used in the construction of inflatable kayaks. You just fill the base with water to keep the lamp upright. The shade is flexible nylon mesh supported by tent pole-style aluminum tubing.

A bio for Knauf on the official IDS Vancouver site reads: “Calen Knauf is a Canadian designer living and working in Vancouver, Canada. Calen studied Industrial Design at Emily Carr University of Art and Design. Shortly after graduating, Calen won best student lighting for his thesis project ‘Standard Lamp’ at Design Plus 2014 in Cologne, Germany. His first produced design was licensed to Esaila in 2012.”

“He has worked closely with life long-friend Conrad Brown from 2013 to 2019 on a range of projects including product design for mass production, furniture, custom editions, interior design, and graphic design. Their work together has won several awards, including The Rising Star Award at Stockholm Furniture Fair 2017 and [the shortlist] for the Dezeen Awards for Lighting Design in 2018.”

You can keep up with Knauf’s work on Instagram.

All photos courtesy of Conrad Brown

The post Overcast Lamp Mimics a Cloud Passing Over the Sun first appeared on Dornob.

During a recession we want everything we do to be cheaper and easier – projects cannot take the place of work (or of finding a job) but no one wants to sacrifice style for convenience either. This clever do-it-yourself concrete clothing hanger is a great blend of easy-to-make, cheap materials and innovative look.

While frustrated by constantly-breaking coat hooks and simultaneously working on an unrelated project to fill light bulbs with concrete for artistic purposes, well, it is clear what happened next: the idea to fuse these two make-it-yourself projects into one cleverly functional idea.

The process and plans are pretty simple – undo the bottom of the bulb, fill it with concrete, add a lag bolt and seal it back up. After it dries, crack the glass and screw it into the wall. The result is durable and visually engaging though somewhat eccentric and industrial as well.

If you like the design but don’t want to go to the trouble of making one yourself, the project’s designer also has them available for sale online.

“Last winter after breaking out the serious cold weather gear, I found myself fighting the coat rack next to the front door. It was, to put it bluntly, failing miserably. Tipping over, breaking off, it was a mess. I swore before the next winter I would drive some serious hooks into the wall that would handle all my heavy overcoat needs. I just haven’t seen any kickass hooks yet that I liked enough to justify making serious holes in my walls.”

“I’ve been playing around, trying to make a concrete lightbulb. Why? Because I find the contrast of blending a new material like concrete in an everyday shape like a lightbulb to be a great design element. So while messing around with these guys, I realized this would be a great excuse to drive lag bolts into my wall for hooks. By embedding a lag bolt into the concrete lightbulb, I could make a wall hook that was useful enough to handle anything I wanted to hang off it. Thus this project was born.”

The post DIY Concrete Light Bulb: Make Your Own Coat Hooks first appeared on Dornob.

Is there any adult who didn’t enjoy making and watching shadow puppets as a kid? The “Bird in Hand” lamp from designer J.P. Meulendijks brings back memories of shadow birds, bunnies and all of the other creative manipulations we used to love making with nothing more than our hands and a light.

A flock of statue-still hands is situated in a circle around a hanging light in this intriguing fixture. The shadows they cast on the walls and floor closely resemble the creatures that kids all over the world create with their own shadows.

Moving around to different positions in the room and looking at the shadows from different perspectives would change the objects you see in the abstract shady shapes.

These outstretched, interlocked hands seem to resemble more than just a novel way to surround a light. Their interconnectedness is reminiscent of the way parents and children join hands when playing. Perhaps the overlapping hands also represent the many, many generations that have enjoyed making shadow puppets since long before electric lights made it easier.

The hands are made from a material created by the artist himself. ECOLOTEK is a fully compostable material made of hemp fibers, minerals and binder. The Bird in Hand lamp is available for €1066 (around $1400 US).

“This big eye-catcher is based on, and tribute to the universal art of hand shadows; making shadows on the wall using your hands to create birds, rabbits, and other figures. Playing with light and hand shadows is a centuries old past time long before electric light was invented. ‘ BIRD IN HAND’ plays with this concept: All of the hands are positioned to look like a flock of birds, flying out in circles. The shadows cast on the wall looks like birds. This results in a very expressive, dynamic and striking looking lamp , with layers of humor and poetry hidden in the design.”

The post Shadow Puppet Lamp Shaped Like Hands first appeared on Dornob.

The post Mari Lights: Luxury Lighting for the 21st Century first appeared on Dornob.

Who says you can’t bottle (and distribute) genius? Developed in Brazil to address under-illuminated slums, this simple design idea for a DIY solar lamp has been adopted by MIT students and expanded to other developing areas where many low-income homes lack access to either daylight or electricity.

The physics of the concept are straightforward: the bottles are placed in roofs – half outside, half inside – and their lower portions refract light like 60-Watt light bulb but without the need for a power source. A few drops of bleach serve to keep the water clear, clean and germ-free for years to come.

In total, one of these do-it-yourself lights takes maybe an hour to install, cutting an appropriate hole, inserting a bleached-water-filled bottle, and resealing around the resulting gap. Even where clean water is rare, a little can generally be spared for a half-decade of lighting.

We take for granted our electric lights, windows and skylights to access the sun’s glow, but for those living in close-together shacks with corrugated-metal roofs, a stray ray is welcome, and something that can spread light to the darkest interior corners can be a dream come true.

Want to make your own? Check out these instructions from Matter of Trust:

“A solar bottle light bulb, an innovation introduced in the Philippines by Illac Diaz of MyShelter Foundation, as a cheap alternative to other light sources. It was an ingenious invention by an engineer in Brazil. It is called “bottle bulb” because it is made of an empty 1.5 liter soda bottle and in it is a liquid bleach and purified water that can be used as an alternative electric powered light bulb. However, it is only useful during daytime but its luminance was tested and shown to produce as much light as a 50W incandescent bulb.

How to make your own Solar Bottle Light Bulb?

The materials are the following: 1.5 liter soda bottle, 1’x1’ roof sheet material, purified water, camera film dispenser, chlorine and a rubber sealant.”

Get the rest of the tutorial here.

The post Solar Bottle Lamps: Water + Bleach = Light first appeared on Dornob.

The dandelion is an invasive weed to some and a beautiful flower to others. To Japanese cinematographer Takao Inoue, the dandelion is a delicate work of art.

The Tampopo – Japanese for dandelion – is immortalized in this ethereal lamp, OLED Tampopo. An actual white-headed dandelion, carefully picked in the Spring, is captured and permanently preserved within an acrylic block.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PtGLWLfGYVI

A tiny OLED light is embedded within the stem of each flower, illuminating both the flower and the acrylic block from the inside with a mysterious light.

The lamps are a simple but striking representation of the fragility of nature. They cause us to recall the wondrous days of youth when we made a wish and blew away the seeds of the dandelion head. Inoue says of his project “The mysterious light gives us a moment to release ourselves.”

“As soon as the brain encounters something organised or designed, it starts a process of analysis. This causes tension and fatigue. The things I make are elaborate and complex, but at the same time it looks simple. The quantities of visual information I use are beyond what can normally be assessed, but paradoxically, this relaxes the viewer.”

“It is like looking at, say, the grain of well-thumbed wood, or a city at night, or movement on the surface of water: viewers’ brains give up attempts at analysis via established knowledge and notions. As if tricked, the viewer can gradually accept a pure relationship between the thing in front of them, and what lies within themselves. They are freed from all restraint.”

“Modern society is for ever expanding. This is true even in situations where individual consumption shrinks. Society seeks profit, promoting more and more systematisation and control. Established notions also function to constrain people and make them rigid. My work, I hope, finds a chaotic niche within this, and so provides clues to a break from our problems, or even their resolution.”

The post Ethereal Acrylic Dandelion Lamps first appeared on Dornob.

The post 7 Functions in 1 Space-Saving Object first appeared on Dornob.

Generally fan art comes in the form of drawings, sculptures, digital renderings and the like – a little less often it takes the form of furniture objects like this light that pays tribute to the classic AT-AT Walker from the original Star Wars movies.

It looks a bit like a long-legged wooden side table at first, but a drawer slides out to reveal the hidden ‘head’ of the walking vehicle. In turn, the resulting composition appears a lot like the mechanical legs and body of the AT-AT strider. The fact that it’s a table and a lamp in one, with a functional drawer, just makes it that much cooler.

Of course, you would not need to know the pop-cultural reference to see that this design by LifeGoods is neat regardless of context- though having the sci-fi savvy to recognize the robotic body implied in the form might help a bit when trying to explain this work at a dinner party (or geek film festival).

That’s the beauty of this piece. While a lot of furniture and home decor inspired by pop culture can feel kitschy, overly literal and cheap, LifeGoods’ version of an AT-AT in table form feels refined, elegant and truly useful. It could fit right in to all sorts of homes, whether or not any other Star Wars references are present.

“We are fascinated by wood and its codes,” say the designers, who were recognized for the piece at the [D3] Awards in Cologne.

“We pick up antique details of cabinetwork and give the object a look which is totally contemporary due to its dimensions. We explore the limits of the wooden piece by expanding its legs and by creating a drawer that functions as a light dimmer. The lamp is like a science fiction object but characterized by the warmth and the preciousness of woodwork.”

The post Star Wars AT-AT Walker Table Lamp first appeared on Dornob.

It’s no secret that 3daysofdesign is Copenhagen’s premier design event. This year it took place between May 23rd and 25th, featuring a stellar lineup of the country’s finest architects, industrial designers, product designers, and interior designers. And while there were a ton of outstanding projects at the festival, we of course couldn’t help but single out a few favorites.

Modular Furniture Collection – Montana

Danish furniture company Montana is known for its abundance of modern, modular furniture pieces. With 36 interchangeable units to choose from, the potential of these elements really is endless. At this year’s 3daysofdesign festival, the company debuted a brand new color collection, which was developed in collaboration with Danish color expert and designer Margrethe Odgaard. All in all, the range boasts pieces in 30 new colors, including amber, rhubarb, flint, chamomile, and many more hues developed as part of Montana’s eight-year color cycle.

Speaking about the range and her place in its creation, Odgaard said: “Montana is a mathematical supersystem, and I wanted the colors to be an extension of that. Just as the modules offer infinite possibilities for combination, the colors also need to be able to be mixed and matched so that they’re in line with Montana’s philosophy of ‘Making Room for Personality.’ But it was also important to me that the colors reflect the precision and quality that I believe characterize Montana’s furniture.”

Setago Lamp — &Tradition

The mission statement on &Tradition’s website reads, “&Tradition reworks design icons from past masters and creates tomorrow’s classics in collaboration with contemporary designers, upholding the tenets of craftsmanship to produce furniture, lighting, and accessories that meet modern needs for function, comfort, and beauty.” This ethos can certainly be seen in the Setago lamp: the quirky yet timeless fixture they debuted at this year’s 3daysofdesign. Created by by Jaime Hayon, the lamp takes its name from the Spanish word for mushroom, “seta.” It also takes the form of a mushroom, with its white cap and squat stand. But beyond its aesthetic beauty, it’s also USB chargeable, meaning it can easily be moved around as needed to illuminate different parts of the home.

Circle Chair — Overgaard & Dyrman

College pals Jasper Overgaard and Christian Dyrman founded their design studio in 2013, with a commitment to creating meaningful lifestyle objects using ethically-sourced materials. Their meticulous practice merges traditional techniques with modern technology to create unique, distinctive, and functional pieces of furniture. Their vision is epitomized in the Circle Chair, which was on full display at this year’s 3daysofdesign. Indeed, with its eye-catching silhouette, refined curves, and exquisite joinery, it’s hard to imagine a room this dining chair wouldn’t make shine.

R.U.M. Chair — Wehlers

Danish design studio Wehlers has an outlook that’s firmly rooted in Danish ideology — to stay true to materials and to be only as decorative as is necessary. It’s no wonder their R.U.M. Chair is minimal, functional, and sustainable. Made from fishing nets and recycled steel, the chair was created by C. F. Møller Design for Wehlers and makes for the perfect complement to their already-outstanding collection of furniture designs.

The post Our Favorite Pieces from Copenhagen’s 3daysofdesign first appeared on Dornob.