This cute lamp was inspired by a sleepless toddler who demanded extra bedtime stories. Photo: Raw Edges
This pieces was intended to be a statement reflecting the playful nature of the firm. Photo: Raw Edges
Necessity is the mother of invention, but a screaming toddler also does wonders to get a parent's creative juices flowing. London-based designers Shay Alkalay and Yael Mer run a studio together and are also the proud parents of a restless child who frequently demands bonus bedtime stories in the wee hours of the morning. One sleep deprived night, Mer was balancing his baby, holding a copy of Goodnight Moon, and using his iPhone as a flashlight when he got a bright idea-turn the smartphone into a lightbulb and ensconce it in a little lamp to free up a hand and streamline story time.
"It was a survival situation," jokes Mer. "The phone was next to me, I didn't have a bedside light, and it was hard to hold three things at once." Mer and Alkalay quickly started sketching up ideas for bedside lamps that would use smartphones as $600 LED lightbulbs. A list of requirements took shape quickly. They wanted a product that could accommodate many kinds of smartphones, a design with no electronics so their creation wouldn't become obsolete if a company switched up the connector, no specialized apps would be required, and most importantly, it needed to feel like furniture, not a gadget.
Mer credits Pixar's animated lamp mascot as a partial inspiration.
Mer credits Pixar's animated lamp mascot as a partial inspiration. The lamps all have a friendly anthropomorphic feel, but he is adamant that these lamps are not just for kids. "To be honest, I didn't plan to design it for my daughter," he says. "I designed it for me." Adults may be the target audience, but the design process was playful as any Montessori classroom. Mer and Alkalay sketched up a bevy of ideas, some functional and others that were purely fun. One concept was inspired by a slingshot and was intended to be a sculptural statement piece. Another solution used a rubber lampshade to do double duty and hold the phone while dispersing the light. A simple, upright design was inspired by traditional army flashlights and a lamp with a subtle rocking feature rounds out the collection.
Plastics and metals are the default design choices for most smartphone accessories, but the designers decided to wrap their iPhones in warm, friendly materials like woods and rubber. "We designed the object to have character, to be something that will attract you," says Mer. "I wouldn't do this project if people didn't already sleep next to their phones. I'm not crazy about this behavior, but if this is what people are already doing, we should design around it."
The yellow rocking lamp ended up being the favorite of visitors of the London Design Festival where it attracted the attention of manufacturers. Mer hopes to flip the switch on the production line in the next few months.
Joseph Flaherty writes about design, DIY, and the intersection of physical and digital products. He designs award-winning medical devices and apps for smartphones at AgaMatrix, including the first FDA-cleared medical device that connects to the iPhone.
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Follow @josephflaherty on Twitter.
news by October 03, 2013 at 11:46PM
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