Rationale

The use of the recycled posters (polypropylene) and the process of Flat pack packaging were the two focus points of this project, hence I wanted my final solution to utilised, and emphasized the materials key properties but also have a successful minimalistic packaging technique.

I wanted to show that this particular material is ideal to be applied to lighting, and also show that no other material could be used to make this particular light, I feel I accomplished this by goal by utilising the materials ability to hold a folded edge, its memory which allows it to spring from flat packaged form to constructed form and its white side which effectively displays shadows cast by its own structure, the white side’s Soft matt shine also picks up and reflects ambient light which is a gorgeous effect. Rigidity is another key property of this material; I wanted to play with this quality by contrasting it with the softness of cotton thread to create interest within my design.

As this material has so many great qualities I wanted to really ‘show it off’ by using a vast surface area. These large surface areas allowed the posters coloured side to be illuminated through the white side and become a dominate feature.  This vast use of material also allows a glow of the posters inside colours glow out the bottom of the lamp.

I didn’t want my design to fall in to the cheap category of lighting for example the flat packet lanterns that can be found in cheap shops or markets which are relatively disposable. I wanted my lamp to be a high end product, that is kept for a long period of time becoming greatly loved and sentimental ect. From researched I found that many of these cheaper lamps were greatly based on origami folding methods and only utilised the single material. This mainstream trend pushed me toward alternate techniques such as fabric manipulation and the introduction of cotton thread as a second material. By straying from the mainstream I hope that my design, though mass produced will have unique essences which will allow my design to stand out from its competitors.

From research I identified a key problem with existing flat packaged products including lights was that they were too complicated and/or time consuming for the consumer, which lead to many consumers having to hire a tradesperson just for assembly. Another problem which I found was that many flat packaged products were near impossible to dismantle and re construct after the original construction.  Hence I had a great desire to create a successful, simple packaging process that took up limited space and gave the consumer ease in constructing, deconstructing and re constructing the lamp. This desire lead to the final design being a single component design which through simple folding is easily transformed from packaged form to a constructed light and back again.