Brief: Design a Lampshade using laser cutting as the primary process
2018
Timeframe: 18 Weeks
This is a project from my first year of Industrial design at TAFE Newcastle, and strangely it’s one that I’m very proud of. I wanted to design a distinctive lampshade inspired by 1950s Googie architecture and science fiction.
Development
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First Form Study
With this project I felt it made sense to start with form studies rather than sketches and so created a “leaf” shape and a cirular component to form the stem of the shade
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Revision sketch
I had known from the beginning I wanted to use perspex for the material due to it being easy to laser cut, but felt the initial form too botanical
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MDF Mockup
I verified the fabrication and assembly using MDF to confirm fits and tolerances
Orthographic Render produced using the same vector linework that was used to cut the pieces
Final Prototype. The assembly in perspex was more difficult than the MDF mockup because of the brittle material and lower friction between components. I broke at least three of the “leaf” sections during assembly. Additionally the top ring was too large for the bed of the laser cutter I had access to and had to be made in two sections which contributed to fragility.