Background music here: Pushin' N Pullin by Red Velvet

This project is to "design and fabricate an original lamp inspired by one of the provided mood boards". In this blog, the process and a reflection on my developed lamp will be presented. The fabrication method is 3D printing. My chosen moodboard is "organic". 

Our tutor suggested us starting with creating a timeline in class which helped us anageing our further plans. For the basic beginning step, I did my brainstorm on Pinterest with keywords including 3d printing design, organic style. Then I developed out a few more specific words that they were all about "melting". I thought flaoting shape suited the organic theme and available for 3d printing to realize. 

At this stage, my tutor had given me some feedback on my brainstorm and initial ideation. Since this was my first 3D printing experience, my tutor suggested me keeping intouch with fablab teachers. This is to ensure my design was clear and simple enough to be modeled and printed out. 

In this initial ideation below, the structure of the flower was considered and expanded for further creation. Instead of taking the original shape of the flower, the approximate structure was more suitable for a design. In this case, the stamen and pistil could be smartly replaced by the light component. 

The procedure was a bit stuck on carrying out a much specific concept, I tried to generate more random ideas in order to solve this problem. However the confusion was not gone, then I decided to start by focussing on only one type of chosen flower. 

My chosen flower was tulip. Two concepts was generated and another decision was waiting for me to make. This time I asked fablab teachers for advice. They reckoned the concept on the left seemed amazing but might be difficult to model. In addition, a lot of support component would be involved for 3d printing which increased the difficulty for printing. Therefore I chose to use the second concept on the right for further development. 

I kept simplfying my design so that would save my time in modeling. Instead of complex structure of stamen and pistil, the plain ellipse would express them easier. The method of assebling the components was also considered in my development. 

As I was seeking for more improvement to make, my tutor suggested me considering about the purpose of my lamp. The looking of the design was important, but practicability should not be ingnored. As the brightness of the provided light component was limited, my lamp may not be suitable for a readinig light. In this case,  a calm night light would be really useful when someone tried to get to the toilet in dark. The light was also considered to be ergonomic. The handle was designed to fit human hands when the user grabbed it. 

Here is an illustration of the final design of my lamp. 

At crafting stage, as all the components were accurate and logical, the outcome seemed good. After taking off the supportance, the lamp was successfully assembled. 

For the next step, a few photographs of my light was taken. 

This photo displays the context of my design. The shape of the lamp is similar to a plant which indicates the vitality and warmth that organic organism brings to human.  

This photo displays the function of my design. The light reflected on the wall demonstrates the structure of my lamp and how the light went through it. 

The photo displays the connection to the "organic" theme of my moodboard. The curve line and ellipse shape fits of the structure and the light suits the topic well.