After deliberating a bit, I have chosen to follow Option 3: Futuristic Laser Cut Sections of my last “Main Project Aesthetics” post when creating my desk lamp. I hope to create something similar to the featured image design [1] by laser cutting wood into a sleek, decorative arrangement of geometric shapes. Again, I hope to add a silver metallic paint to the wood shapes after laser cutting to shift my lamp even further toward the “futuristic” aesthetic. Our classmate Patrick Bodine-Ellison raised the important question of if I want to apply the silver paint to the potentially-blackened edges of the wood after laser cutting, and suggested the possibility of finding a naturally silver or grey wood to laser cut.

My top 5 constraints – in no particular order – for this project moving forward are as follows:

1. Light Sourcing

For this project I’m not looking to create a lighting element from scratch, so I will likely try to find a simple, LED or similar light with a warm, orange hue and circular pedestal around which to build my decorative frame.

2. Materials

As I intend to use a laser cutter, whatever material I make the geometric shapes that surround my lamp base and the lamp base itself out of must be compatible with the laser cutter. Our classmate Patick Bodine-Ellison suggested Baltic Birch plywood as an excellent wood for laser cutting earlier in the semester, and even offered to supply me with some he had leftover, so I will likely take him up on that offer. As he also suggested, I could look into finding naturally silver or gray woods that are compatible with laser cutting.

3. Size

My current desk has about a foot-by-foot open area in the back corner that will serve as the largest possible building envelope for this desk lamp’s base. I may need to make the lamp slimmer than the design shown as the featured image. I have no real limitations on height, but I do wish to keep the lamp around my initial proposed height range of 2 feet to a meter as described within my last “Main Project Aesthetics” post.

4. Aesthetics

Above all else, I want to adhere to the futuristic aesthetic. I hope to achieve this with sleek, geometric shapes for the decorative shades around the central lighting element. I don’t necessarily associate a warm hue of light with a futuristic aesthetic, but if I surround the light with the proper shapes and colors, I don’t think it will detract from the overall futuristic aesthetic I hope to create.

5. Durability

My initial functional goal was to make this desk lamp as sturdy as possible, as I hope to bring this lamp with me when I move. While I do think this functional goal will be most difficult with for this option of aesthetic compared to the others listed within my previous post, I still think it can be achieved. I will have to decide how I wish to secure the sections of decorative shade around the central circular base and lighting element. Perhaps I don’t wish to “secure” them at all, and instead I will add another another, lower circular frame with slits to hold the bottom of the decorative sections. I could try to incorporate concepts of joinery, so no adhesive or fasteners are needed at all.

Image and Inspiration Citations

[1] “Cascade Design Laser Cut Wooden Table Lamp Shade”. Decoratorist.com. Accessed 24 February, 2020 from https://decoratorist.com/laser-cut-futuristic-tabletop-lamp/cascade-design-laser-cut-wooden-table-lamp-shade/

 

[2] “ Tips on using Metallic Paint and a Silver Painted Dressing Table Set”. LilyfieldLife.com. Posted by Fiona on 13 December 2013. Accessed 24 February, 2020 from http://www.lilyfieldlife.com/2013/12/tips-on-using-metallic-paint-and-silver.html