Flip Lamp

Flip Lamp Duo

Group Design Project Proposal - Home Lighting

Keyshot render by Xusheng Yu

✅ Deliverables

- Design engineering
  - - Mechanism design
    - Design for manufacturing (DfM)
- Industrial design
  - - Market research
    - Sketching + ideation
    - Keyshot rendering + animations

👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Team Members

- Xusheng Yu
  - - Design Engineer
    - Industrial Designer
- Sadaf Farahanifar
  - - Industrial Designer
- Roseline El Jabbour
  - - Industrial Designer
- Andrew Longo
  - - Industrial Designer

Combining stamped and spun aluminum sheet metal with off-the-shelf hardware, this modern table lamp and hanging lamp duo was designed to be elegant and easy to manufacture. It features a swiveling head cover to adjust for brightness. It allows for the user to alternate between direct lighting and indirect, ambient lighting.

As the design engineer in this project, I worked with 3 other industrial designers on the team and explored opportunities for innovation, while ensuring technical and manufacturing feasibility of the design.

Keyshot render by Xusheng Yu

Inspiration

To keep the design elegant and the manufacturing process straightforward, the team began with simple, geometric forms. The design form was inspired by the lamps of the 1960's and the glass spheres and steel structures.

Ideation + sketching

Sketches by all team members.

30 minute render of sketches on Shapr3D CAD, by Xusheng Yu.

Group brainstorming and sketching sessions led to a form resembling the fluidity of a teardrop.

Using Shapr3D, an iOS CAD app, I made a quick, 30 minute model and rendering of what a refined form may look like, including experimenting with materials and finishes. This reflects my practice of quick prototypes of various fidelity throughout the design process, even the very start.

Design iterations

Using Shapr3D's AR capabilities to gauge size and proportions for rapid prototypes, by Xusheng Yu (featuring Sadaf Farahanifar in the background)

Comparison of form iterations for both table lamp and hanging lamp, modeled on Shapr3D by Xusheng Yu.

After the team was satisfied with the basic forms, a combination of sketching and rapid 3D modeling on Shapr3D was used to narrow down design details, such as the support arms. As the design engineer, I convinced the team to have the table lamp and hanging lamp share as much of the same parts as possible, or use the same material or manufacturing process, while maintaining the design language and vision.

Using Shapr3D's Augmented Reality (AR) features, it was quick and efficient to see the design in "real life" and gauge size and proportions. This streamlined the team's workflow drastically by reducing time needed on prototyping*.

*Note that physical prototyping is an essential part of my design practice and must not be replaced by digital means. Time constraints made digital prototyping sufficient for this project proposal, but if more time was allocated to the team, physical prototypes would be constructed to explore the form further.

Design iteration with chrome lamp covers, on Shapr3D by Xusheng Yu.

Comparison of colors, materials, and finished (CMF), as well as incorporation of rotational lamp cover, on Shapr3D by Xusheng Yu.

Design refinement + CMF

Further exploration led to both the top and bottom of the lamp head to be made of stamped metal. This made the lamp more distinctive and sleeker from an aesthetic perspective, but also serves a manufacturing advantage; by having the same material, it reduces the need to have an additional manufacturing process for the glass dome from the previous design. Several CMF variations were also explored.

Design iteration with swiveling bottom lamp head. Swivel mechanism was still not determined yet. Shapr3D, by Xusheng Yu.

Swiveling mechanism design

The team decided to allow the bottom of the lamp head to swivel, allowing both direct and ambient lighting. This added functionality required that I come up with a simple mechanism design. Initial concepts included a "turn key" on the side of the lamp, but then I realized that there could just be a handle on the swiveling surface, because it only needed to turn 180°, and a turn key would require another separate manufacturing process. Better yet, this handle could be the same shape and material as the connector tabs used elsewhere in the design.