The Iris light came about from a brief to create a posable task lamp in my second year of university and after mentioning it with friends who studied photography they identified pain points with existing safelights for darkrooms, specifically seeking a solution they could use at home or within a more professional environment.
This project leaned into the idea of safelights at home, exploring what it could look like as a statement piece rather than something only brought out on occasion, going away from LED's and playing with how we might achieve the same functions in a sculptural, analog way.
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Problem identified
After Identifying film hobbiests who may not have space for a permanent darkroom setup within their home we conducted further consulting with film photographers as well as independent research. We found the market lacked an aesthetic solution to developing film photography at home, specifically most safelights lacked adjustability in both colour, with many photographers owning several safelights for different grades of film and posability, with only a few able to angle in one direction let alone several.
Ideation
Ideation drew inspiration from Icons of the Italian modern and retrofuturistic eras of design, looking at what art and design enthusiasts already have in their homes or would desire and blending it with the functionality of the safelight. After initial ideation two concepts were proposed to supervisors; the floor to ceiling friction fit lamp that utilises additive colour principal and the more traditional cantilever lamp, ultimately it was decided the friction-fit lamp was more exciting and innovative and that is what was chosen to develop...
Floor to ceiling ideation
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cantilever concept exploded
Prototype 2
Prototype 1
Concept Development
Product development saw 6 iterations and two full scale functioning prototypes, experimenting with form, mechanism, finish and the filters. The final iteration drew from the best elements of each iteration, adding an additional two ranges of motion and a diffusion filter to better fit as an ambient light as well as a directional task light.
Final Design
The final iteration is a fully articulating, gyroscopic task lamp featuring four different coloured filters allowing for full adjustability both in colour and direction.
Gyroscopic
The light aimed to have ultimate directionality to be angled at any workspace without moving the position of the light. This was achieved utilising an almost fully gyroscopic centre frame allowing for both x and y axis pivoting.
Adjustable Height
Telescoping legs allow for a tight fit in a range of heights, from 1.8 to 3.4m in length, meaning it can fit most residential spaces.
13 Colour Range
The four filters can stack for a possible 13 different settings, utilising subtractive colour theory It allows for the three safelight colours in amber, green and red. The design also allows for an additional 4 in orange purple blue and yellow both in diffused and normal settings.
Click on an element to see more...
Design details
The frame is constructed from shaped, welded stainless steel tubing with two seperate pieces allowing for gyroscopic adjustability. The hinges are friction fit and held with a threaded bolt to allow for easy dismantlement.
The shell is constructed from polypropylene plastic, chosen for its lack of translucence as to not damage any film. It is dome shaped, inspired by Chabrières lights from the early 1970's with a lip allowing it to easily lock in to the metal frame.
The final design features 4 stacked filters; Yellow, Red, Blue and a frosted diffusion filter for a softer light. Filters are constructed using coloured acrylic and shaped stainless steel rod.
The final iteration of feet are over 15cm in diameter made of stainless steel with a chrome finish, shaped with a thin profile to maximise stability whilst keeping the weight down. Below the steel is a thin layer of polyisoprene rubber, increasing friction to the floor and ceiling and preventing marking.
To secure the legs at an appropriate height and achieve a secure fit the final design utilises a quick release tubing clamp for fast, tool free adjustment.
