Wooden desk lamp

The assignment was to design a sustainable wooden desk lamp as a junior designer for the gift shop of a design or art museum.

The lamp had to meet several requirements:

• Mechanically adjustable in height
• Attachable to a desk
• User-assemblable
• Styled after a Dutch designer

The challenge lay in combining functionality, manufacturability and aesthetics within clear technical and design-oriented constraints.

The final result is a working wooden desk lamp with:

• An adjustable mechanism
• A clamp construction for attachment to the desk
• A design inspired by a chosen Dutch designer
• A construction that can be assembled by the user themselves

The project started in a group of 4, with the research phase carried out jointly. From chapter 4 onwards, I developed the project entirely on my own. My contribution in the group phase:

• Working out parts of the analyses (including user analysis and requirements specification)
• Contributing to concept development and research directions

• Generating and sketching multiple concepts
• Selecting and developing a final concept
• Designing the mechanism and construction
• Working out material choices and build plan
• Realising a physical model in the workshop
• Testing the product with users
• Evaluating and reflecting on the design and process
• Throughout this process I completed the full design journey: from idea to working final product.

The result is a strong response to the assignment because:

• The design meets all set requirements and constraints
• Functionality (adjustability and assembly) is well integrated
• The product has actually been made and tested
• The design is based on research and analyses
• Ability to independently complete a design process
• Ideas can be translated into a manufacturable product
• Technology, form and usability can be combined
• Ability to reflect and improve my work