Torch

description:

While thinking about the things around me, it struck me that desk & floor lamps use the same balancing mechanism as candle sticks. Torch is my attempt to change that.

date:

Ongoing

work:

Logo design, editorial design, graphic design, web design

Goal

To create a lamp with a disproportionately small base that would not fall over when tipped or moved. It needed to occupy less space on my desk while performing like any other desk lamp.

The Problem

The most difficult aspect of creating a lamp with a small base is balance. Lamps have honking bases because they have no ability to move and stand evenly weighted.

Prototypes 1 & 2

My first idea—one which I pursued with time and money throughout the first two major prototypes—was to use a motorized, battery-powered gyroscope.

It took four hours of tinkering before it worked. It ran for an hour before the gyroscope’s procession toppled it over.
I spent months trying to get this version to stand on its own. Despite its superior gyroscope and construction, it never worked.

Prototypes 3 & 4

After abandoning the gyroscope idea, I began working to counterbalance the top portion—which houses the lights—with a small, dense weight in the base.

One feature of this counterbalance mechanism is that the user can angle the light without worrying about it falling over; using gyroscopes, this was impossible.
You can angle the lamp, move it, bump it, or otherwise do something that might cause a normal lamp to fall over—and it won’t.

Typeface

As the fourth prototype neared completion, I decided that it needed sleek packaging. Of course, the packaging needed to bear the word "Torch." Becase I was cutting the name out of plastic, I needed a stencil font. After some searching, I decided to design my own.

I designed the type to feature consistently strong 70, 90, and 110 degree angles.
After bringing the characters into FontLab Studio 5, I was able to tweak and export the font. The character set is limited to what I knew I needed—some basic punctuation and upper- & lower-case alphabets.

Packaging

I needed to produce packaging that would delight the user. This means: attractively displaying the lamp, constructing a strong box, prominently featuring the logotype, producing an easy opening experience, and reducing waste.

Poster & Specimen

Finally, to showcase the lamp and typeface, I created a poster. The angular design reflects both pieces of content.

To learn more about the project, go here.