Design Preview Report – Space Cowboy Lamp

The Space Cowboy Lamp is what I have chosen for my final project for this course.

Some of my inspirations for this project are as follows:

One of my favorite instances of sci-fi / space that I will be referencing in this project is specifically the interiors and heads up displays from ships from the video game Elite: Dangerous. This game features a large array of fictional space ships which the user interacts and plays in throughout the duration of their experience. I am really interested in using some of the colors of the UI, some of the design choices of the overall ship design, and some of the materials seen within these ships. Perhaps not all metal, but definitely referencing their rugged and robust look in my design.

Another one of my main inspirations for this project, and the inspiration primarily servicing the “cowboy” aspect of my design is the Yeehaw Cowgirl Suite from the Trxie Motel in Palm Spring, CA. This design is a bit more colorful then what I am interested in making, but is a good example of some of the forms and graphics that I might use in my final design. I have referenced this room throughout the course of this semester and I am really looking forward to seeing the ways in which I can adapt it.

One of the other things I am planning on using / taking inspiration from in this project is the Ikea Molnart Edison bulb. I have two of these lights in my room and have always loved their warm and exposed glow. I think they can work really well within this project and I appreciate their design.

This project will serve as a way for me to combine my love of sci-fi / space, my appreciation for “westerns” and the cowboy aesthetic, and my love of creative lighting solutions. This lamp will marry these concepts in an engaging and hopefully interactive manner, with the user being able to interact with it beyond just switching it on and off. My vision for this project is to make something that will not only catch people’s eyes when visiting my apartment, but also something that reflects my interests and aesthetics that I can reflect on and remind myself of whenever I see it. The specifications for this is that it needs to at least be a functional lamp, with a switch or a button that will make it useable as if it was a standard lamp. But, I also want to incorporate LED’s or other lighting into the design that will add to its aesthetic appeal, something similar to the UI elements seen above.

My alternate aesthetics can be seen below:

The opposite aesthetics to my project mostly consist of a gothic, non-technical / magical lamp that would feature cold colors and graceful designs. It would not be very robust nor would it involve any leathers, unpainted metals, or LEDs. Considering this design did not necessarily change my approach to the project, but was fun to think about nonetheless.

Initial drawings / sketches of my product can be seen below:

These sketches highlight some of the features of this project that I am interested in. I am interested in featuring one of these Molnart lights from ikea, a stained wooden base, potentially some kind of leather (upcycled boot?), and either warm or blue LED lights around the base. I am interested in surrounding the light in some kind of metal (or metallic appearing) structure. I’m potentially also interested in taking this down a more “gold rush” kind of look with a floating rock in the middle surrounded by LED’s to give some kind of underlit look, but this is still up for debate.
My current process has consisted of brainstorming, making these sketches, and sourcing materials.

An overall timeline of my project completion can be seen below:

My goal is to have this design done in 5 weeks. Weeks 1 and 2, starting the week of March 10th, will be my final ideation weeks as well as when I source the materials that I will need. This will consist of me sourcing PETG plastic online, likely going to an arts store to look for wood and scrap metal, and online to buy any electronics I will need. Weeks 3 and 4 are going to be when I build and finalize my project, making it the level of quality that I am planning on. Week 5 is when I am ‘aiming’ to have the project done, but I am also ok with needing to push week 3’s tasks into week 4, making week 5 when I do touch ups / documentation and week 6 serving as the final deliverable. I believe that this timeline will be acceptable. I will have to learn how to stain wood, improve my CAD skills, and potentially metalworking and electronics skills during the course of this project. This will also be done during weeks 1 and 2.