I love projects, like this ugly duckling lamp series from Hong Kong-based designer kamric, that give the lie to so-called “modern” design: Here’s something that looks just as good, and works just as well, as your snooty “designer” products, but is made from a couple bucks’ worth of hardware store materials.
This impressively complex deployable spaceframe was designed by Studio Dror. It’s called Volume.MGX and was printed via selective laser sintering (SLS). I guess hanging it over a light bulb and calling it a “lamp” makes for better video than setting a piece of glass on it and calling it a “table.” Still, fun to watch it squish and un-squish.
http://blog.craftzine.com/archive/2010/09/add_style_to_your_dorm_room.html
I don’t know how else to put it. These lamps, by a Japanese craftsman known as The Great Mushrooming, feature handblown glass mushrooms, with internal LEDs, mounted in found driftwood bases with conspicuous on/off switches. I don’t think they could get any better. [via Inhabitat]
I’m not sure just why this design for a homemade flashlight cased in standard galvanized pipe fittings is so appealing to me, but it is. It’s an entry in Instructables’ ongoing Flashlight Contest from user, ah, “qxnixrfnaozqqx.” The only way to defeat him is to trick him into saying that backwards.
Designer Craighton Berman makes these cool lamps that are mostly formed from their own extension cords. Plus a laser-cut acrylic frame and a basic lamp kit. He’ll see you just the frame and the lamp, so you can roll your own, or a complete lamp pre-wound with a 100′ cord.
We get a lot of makers applying to sell art lamps in Makers Market, but Erik Smith’s are definitely on the high end when it comes to aesthetics and on the low end when it comes to prices. If you’re a collector, or in the market for a handmade lamp for yourself or as a gift, check out Erik’s shop. Or better yet, make one of your own! Or, even better, if you’ve already made one, post a link and show it off in the comments. If I get enough responses, I’ll do a reader-made art lamp round-up sometime next week.
