11/6: Initial exploration
I explored buildings around campus and sketched them, keeping in mind the environmental context and intended purpose.
Afterwards, I experimented with some ideas. My very first idea was to tape a paper cup over the bulb. It’s my best one yet.
I tried cutting out a geometric flower pattern, but ran into some planning/craft issues along the way. The paper didn’t quite mesh together the way I wanted it to, creating overlapping edges. Since this is still an experimental phase of the project, I decided to improvise and form overlapping “petals”.
This created too harsh of a glare out the bottom of the light, so I opted to reintroduce the paper cup for a softer glow. Since the material of the cup is different from the bristol board, this should only serve as a stand in for what the shape would look like and not the light color emitted.
Inverting the lampshade on the Lazy Susan offered fresh ideas; I’m excited to experiment with casting a thin ray of light through the bottom of a paper covering. I think that would be especially useful for my prompt of a nightlight.
11/11:
We prepared sketchmodels for critique next class. I experimented with various types of paper, and observed the differences in color thrown off.
I explored more complex forms , layering more and more paper.
Note: The leftmost light above started as an experiment with creating curved forms. However, it is highly uncomfortable to look at: responses I’ve gotten include “tentacle”, “alien”, and “spike”. There’s one thing I hadn’t considered: that a form can be too natural looking. I personally wouldn’t want to sleep with that near my head.
I’m beginning to understand that many kinds of abstract forms can be applied to a light engine and still work. The main limit is the material I work with, and how imaginative I can be. As I continue to work, I plan on pushing further to experiment with even more abstract shapes.
11/13 Crafting Alternatives
I purchased more paper types for experimentation. During critiques on 11/12, we considered the general traits of lights suited toward specific purposes. Lights for sleeping benefit from simple, curved forms and soft light. The hardest challenge will definitely be attaining a high level of polish and craft- I’ve found it’s really hard to get the clean curved shapes I want.
I’m focusing on an overhanging top for my lamp that throws light down onto the surface around the light. I was initially very drawn to the idea of irregularly shaped arches supporting an egg shape around the light. However, there are two problems with this:
- My current designs look a little too organic- like alien eggs. Moving forward, it might be better to err on the side of regular pattern. I wouldn’t want to repeat the tentacle iteration.
- It’s near impossible to make a seamless egg shape with just paper. I’m considering plastering the sides of an egg-shaped mold with paper pulp, then coating it in a layer of resin.
I decided to take a step back and look to the real world for inspiration.
After what felt like ages of banging my head into a wall, I eventually created a satisfactory prototype.
Key characteristics I’m looking to refine are the cleanness of the curves, soft gradient of light, and warmness of the light. Considering buying a warmer bulb.
11/14 Critique
I need to work more on craft- no surprises there. Steve suggested I consider mathematical formulas: examples of perfectly constructed curves that are all but impossible to duplicate. Natural curves are seldom ugly to look at, but man-made interpretations often are. He also brought up sailboat battens and sailboards. Stacie demonstrated what a clean, folded curve would look like using a single sheet of paper. She brought up an idea for gradient light: perforating holes through the paper, at varying sizes to increase the light shining through.
Ideally, a comforting sleeping light should be engaging while not attracting excessive attention. I’m going to spend a good amount of time nailing down how to craft complex curved surfaces.
11/17 Variations & producing a well-crafted prototype
The first thing I did was experiment with what Stacie demonstrated: creasing and folding the paper to make curved “cut”less corners.
While the idea is certainly feasible, there remains the question of adjusting sizes to fit what I have in mind.
I ended up grafting 3 together as a flipped version of my original iteration. It was an interesting experiment, but even a haphazard model was enough for me to tell the craft was going to be tedious to maintain.
I figured 3 planes wasn’t cutting it, so I tried out 4 sides instead. It offered better stability, which allowed me to have better craft when making it.
I didn’t like the way the light looked like with its curves- almost unfriendly, like a missile or a drill bit. I decided to make a rectangular sleeve. Fitting the new sleeve over the light bulb required me to cut my internal “prism” to accommodate.
Unfortunately, this led to an unsightly slit that stands out when the bulb is lit. Some ideas I’m considering are:
- covering the whole thing in a semi-transparent, cloudy paper
- resizing the prism to phase out a need for cut slits altogether
- shifting up the sleeve to cover up the slit and create a flat top plane
Side note: my phone camera is not great at capturing the light engine in a flattering way. I think I might actually have a rare problem on my hands where the picture is not as nice as the product in real life.
11/19 Group Critique
I received some invaluable feedback today. It was really helpful to understand other people’s visual associations and their knee-jerk reactions to my lamp because it is a very honest evaluation of the overall product.
The feedback I received appeared mostly along the same lines as what I was thinking: Make it shorter and fatter, keep the paper and light temperature, rebuild the lightstand. It’s nice to know that I can evaluate my own work and intuitively arrive at the same conclusions someone else might make.
11/20 Preparing for the Big Freeze
I’m hesitant to introduce any large changes in case they take me in a less effective direction. Because of that, I decided to stick with my original design.
I tried tinkering with proportions as suggested in the feedback. I first tried out a larger, fatter version of my light.
However, I felt that the increased scale highlighted aspects of my design that I didn’t like: the gap between the internal curve and external straight frame was made more noticeable, and the imperfections in the parabola were made more apparent due to the larger size. In addition, I felt that my light was pushing the upper boundary of how much space I was willing to take up on a nightstand.
I then tried sizing down a bit and had an idea to make a circular frame. I felt that this was a slight improvement in size and proportions.
While the curve of the cylinder complements the curve of the inner component, something about the overall shape reminds me of tire hubcaps or a trashcan. I feel like the external wrap detracts from the simplicity of my form too much without a strong enough justification.
For that reason, my third and final version was also my most simple.
I think the right choice is to abandon the external casing, refine the craft of a relatively simple object, and focus my efforts on developing a support structure for the lightbulb that accentuates the gradient of light. I’m all but set on my choice of bulb and paper; all that remains is to construct a fitting stand.
11/22 Addressing the Seam
The main issue with craft for my light is the crack of light that shines through where my paper joins at the corners. I left an extra length of paper on the edges to join internally using tape and hot glue.
However, this doesn’t seem to work, as the light still shines through despite a tighter bond. This is the case for both clear and masking tape.
Next, I tried using a separate paper to cover the joint. However, this also didn’t work. The light source is too close and the paper is too thin to block the light from shining through. I accidentally knocked over my bulb and broke it, so I’ll continue working tomorrow after I buy another one.
11/23 Addressing the Seam Part 2
The main reason I don’t want to attach the paper join externally is because it would break up the simplicity of the lampshade too much. If I were to do that, it introduces more variables that I need to perfect craft on. But I have to admit that an external join does work in blocking the light.
If I’m going to use external joins, I want to incorporate it smoothly. I think I could suggest the shape of a lantern by including a top cap. I’m deciding between a curved corner shape or a straight edge.
Here is a more refined version of what I had in mind. It was incredibly painstaking to glue the thin paper strands on top of my paper form.
Although it is still possible to see light shining through the seams, I believe this is a craft issue as not all the seams are light-permeable. If I join the ends tightly enough, there shouldn’t be any issues with covering the light up. I consider this phase of the project finished.
Crafting the stand
Next, I’ll be making a foam core base to hold the light and generate a light gradient from within the paper form. Working with foam core is very challenging. This was my first iteration. As you can see from the jagged cuts and uneven level, I am not used to it.
As it turns out, I don’t like the idea of a substantial and visible stand. I prefer the simplicity of the paper form by itself; I’m going try a minimalist foam core base next time.
11/24 Stand explorations Part 2
Foam core won’t be enough to achieve what I want. It’s too hard to cut precisely, and blocks light a little too well. I’ll keep trying to figure something out with it, but in the mean time…
Working with thick paper offers a lot more flexibility in its shape. I used poster board to experiment with some forms before moving on to the slightly thicker mat board.
First, I created a foam core base. Using the wider surface area allowed me to create snug fits for my supporting cylinder when it came to incorporating poster board paper. After fitting the cylinder, I used my olfa knife to hack away a channel for the wire to sit in.
Next came the pyramid structure. This component would create a soft gradient as the outside paper neared it, darkening near the bottom. I constructed this pyramid out of mat board to block the most light. In addition, I cut a circular hole for the wire to slip through.
I was pleasantly surprised by how nicely the paper cover slid onto the straight edges of the pyramid. There are some issues with light seeping out the bottom where the edge meets poster board, but I‘ll wait until my final iteration to glue it all together. Likewise, the inside is held together with tape because I still need to extract the light bulb for tomorrow.
The pyramid might use some more tweaking to make the gradient more obvious, but otherwise I’m pretty happy with how my light engine has turned out. I’ll produce my polished iteration tomorrow.
11/25 Polishing the Final Product
Sitting down to polish craft one last time really takes a toll. The slightest mistake means starting over, as I discovered after cutting my light a quarter of an inch too short. What’s more, I couldn’t afford to make too many iterations- I was nearing the end of my paper supplies. After 10 consecutive hours of cutting, gluing, and starting over, I finally finished.
I used my bulky photo camera to shoot the pictures for my final submission. A serious concern of mine is that the photos won’t do justice to the painstaking craft or exact color temperature. It might be just me, but I believe my light looks a lot better in person than on a screen.
Concluding Thoughts
I’m pretty satisfied with this project. My main takeaway from these past few weeks has been understanding how to grind out idea generation as well as knowing what to prioritize both inside and outside of class. Despite the relatively simple form of my final product, I’d like to think the lengths I’ve gone for craft have paid off.
As the last studio project of the semester, I’m really proud of how much I’ve grown since cutting paper reliefs. I’ve definitely got a better grasp of what it means to document a process, as well as what workflow is best for my studio time. I’ve been on an uptrend in terms of productivity and work/sleep balance, and I hope it shows in my projects. Moving into the spring semester of 2020, I hope I can continue my exponential growth.
