l+b: young designers showcase
Light + Building has a special area showcasing recent graduates hoping to launch their own product design firms. Three in particular caught my eye. Daniel Becker Design Studio from Berlin was again showing a gorgeous modular lighting system called “Sparks”. … Continue reading l+b: young designers showcase
l+b:Artemide
Artemide continues to be, well…Artemide. Essentially a hoity-toity collection of art pieces, never-the-less their art involves some creative uses of light and they certainly have some winners. And for sure: If you have to ask how much they cost, you … Continue reading l+b:Artemide
solid state beam shaping
Seeing the innovative fixture from Fonckel with a “controllable light beam” is satisfying to me on a different level: Fonckel is demonstrating that LEDs have hit a low enough price point to enable more creative uses of light that have long been … Continue reading solid state beam shaping
l+b:Fonckel
Fonckel is a small startup company “spun out” from the Technical University/Eindhoven. Their first product is a small table lamp with an extremely creative control interface: A capacity touch system on the top of the fixture lets you use natural … Continue reading l+b:Fonckel
painting with light
From Vimeo, an awesome video posted by Richard Kendall with the following description: Splice Boys: Tom Brandon, Richard Kendall and Crew, – 96 camera rig, 30s sequential exposure. – A lot of running around with lights. – Also combining manual … Continue reading painting with light
l+b: Ango
At Light+Building I had a chance to talk with Angus Hutcheson, the Chief Designer/Founder of Ango, which I had previously written about last year. Angus was a most gracious host and clearly takes great pride in his creations. One can … Continue reading l+b: Ango
the meaning of “innovation”
“The term ‘innovation’ dated back to the sixteenth-century England. Originally it described the introduction into society of a novelty or new idea…innovation began to fill a descriptive gap. If an idea begat a [scientific] discovery, and if a discovery begat an [engineered] invention, then an innovation defined the lengthy and wholesale transformation of an idea into a technological product (or process) meant for widespread practical use. Almost by defintion, a single person, or even a single group, could not alone create an innovation. The task was too variegated and involved.” Quoted from The Idea Factory: Bell Labs and the Great Age … Continue reading the meaning of “innovation”
l+b: Panasonic & Vossloh Schwabe
Panasonic and its acquired Vossloh-Schwabe division had a very strong component and module showing at Light + Building. Two products especially caught my eye, a linear Zhaga compliant module and a socketed OLED module. Panasonic and VS were showing a … Continue reading l+b: Panasonic & Vossloh Schwabe
l+b: CeramTec
CeramTec is a German company that makes ceramic-based moldings, extrusions and sheet products. Ceramics have two great characteristics: Electrical isolation and thermal conductivity. Circuit traces can be silk-screened right onto the ceramic parts and electrical components like LEDs can be … Continue reading l+b: CeramTec
l+b: DeltaLight
Delta Light was founded by a designer, and that focus on design clearly permeates throughout their company. From their gorgeous Belgium HQ factory and showroom, to the catalog filled with world-class architectural projects, to their finely-honed product line, Delta Light … Continue reading l+b: DeltaLight
l+b: XAL booth
XAL continues to impress me. I remember a decade ago when we first received XAL’s catalogue in the states. They had a nice little line of decorative xenon-lamp based products (hence the name, Xenon Architectural Lighting). Who would have thought … Continue reading l+b: XAL booth
quote
“Remember, more candles are sold today than when they were the only source of light. So there are a lot of legacy technologies that will remain viable for many decades.” From EdisonReport.net, in an interview with outgoing President of Philips Lighting North America, Zia Eftekhar. Continue reading quote
rousseau designs – kitchen project
London-based Rousseau Design sent me this image of a kitchen design project they recently completed with integrated lighting just below the countertop. Nice detail…very subtle but it really energizes the space. The PR release emphasizes the play of different shades and … Continue reading rousseau designs – kitchen project
light + building 2012
22 hours of walking and talking… 15 seperate exhibit halls… Endless corridors… M.C. Escher-like escalators… Throngs of people… Movenpick ice-cream cones… Sore feet… IT MUST BE LIGHT + BUILDING TIME! Light + Building is just enormous, inspiring, overwhelming, and awesome…all … Continue reading light + building 2012
shape to fabrication
Unfortunately, I discovered this after the event took place, but the 2011 Shape To Fabrication conference in London looked very interesting, exploring advanced parametric 3D shape design and fabrication techniques. Hopefully they will schedule another conference in the future. Continue reading shape to fabrication
andy gilmore
The April 2012 issue of Harvard Business Review recently featured spectacular artwork by Andy Gilmore. Full of geometric repetition and the most elegant use of the full color gamut that I’ve ever seen, this artist’s work is sure to provide … Continue reading andy gilmore
3 tiers of innovation: feature, typology, application
There are three levels of innovation in the lighting industry. Two are common, one is incredibly rare. The first level is where the market, application and topology is defined and the expected feature set is also tightly defined. Here, small “innovations” such as incremental refinements in functionality or new accessories are expected. For example, a new, easier way to attach track fixtures to track. Market X Application X Topology X New Features! The second level is where the application is defined, but someone wants to do it “better”…just not necessarily differently. New types of products may be created, but they achieve the … Continue reading 3 tiers of innovation: feature, typology, application
zhaga’s debutante ball
It looks like my industry colleagues in the Zhaga Consortium have made significant progress (see also my previous post “gaga for Zhaga” back in 2010). The Zhaga group has started it’s official promotional activities, including adding significant content to its website (including the new official … Continue reading zhaga’s debutante ball
quote
How to explain innovation for the masses: “People are very open minded about new things…as long as they’re exactly like the old ones.” –Charles Kettering, founder of Delco autoparts Continue reading quote
quote
Companies will go a long way toward understand good customer service with this quote: “Customers who detect a cut-and-paste job feel unloved” –Harvard Business Review: “Coming Through When it Matters Most“ Continue reading quote
Lucept 