Since its iconic discovery by Thomas Alva Edison in the year 1879, the incandescent lamp has given light to thousands of households for years. With its warm light and good color reflection, the classic light bulb is one of the most important inventions in history. Mankind has since been extremely dependent on light, along with its different designs and fixtures in homes, at work and public spaces. Innovation, practicality, creativity, aesthetics, and in some cases, environmental impact have become important factors in light design concepts. These days the incandescent light bulbs have been mostly replaced by LEDs along with other energy efficient and environment-friendly lights. Light bulbs, however, still continue to inspire designers around the world. Let us take a look.
1. Recycled old light bulbs
Summon the wolves shows us how to recycle old and burned out light bulbs. With the help of a few easily available materials like epoxy, pliers, compressors and drills, you can build a mini-terrarium inside the light bulb. You will need some soil and some small plants like clover or moss that you want to plant inside. Once you have prepared this desk-friendly, tiny nature space the only care it will need is a few drops of water down the inside.
2. Slow Glow
The Slow Glow lamp, also known as the Fat lamp, has its light source immersed in oil. As the light heats up, it slowly melts the substance, which gradually becomes translucent. The light becomes brighter and brighter and the lamp warms up in a comforting way. The oil solidifies on switching off the lamp.
3. Giant light bulb-shaped lamps
With her SO1 lamp design, designer Sarah Olaerts pays homage to the classic light bulbs in the shape of a giant 4.5 feet light bulb. The remote-controlled lamp is made from polythene and features an RGB power LED.
4. Pocket light bulb
This pocket light bulb which fits in your wallet may look like a normal credit card but it is actually pocket lighting, conceptually designed by Hyun Jin Yoon and Eun Hak Lee. It is quite interesting how such a small card can be actually used for lighting. The inside has an interstice like the normal light bulb. Whenever you need a small light, e.g. to search for your keys, simply flip the light bulb cut-out which will immediately light up.
5. Levitating wireless-powered light bulb
The levitating wireless-powered light bulb floats in midair and remains that way for years without any physical contact. The light bulb does not need any charging or batteries. Even with both the levitation and wireless power circuitry, this light bulb consumes half the energy as that by an incandescent bulb. At the first glance, it might look unbelievable but the trick lies in hiding the circuitry of the bulb. This design concept incorporates the use of electromagnetic forces along with coupled resonant wireless power transfer to levitate the bulb and to transfer power from the housing to the bulb.
6. Mobile light bulbs
The Vaka concept by Ian Bach combines a designer light tree with mobile light bulbs. The lamp is shaped like a tree and has bulbs attached to its branches. The coolest thing about this design is that the light bulbs still work when removed from the branches. These bulbs made of silicon are rechargeable. They get charged while being attached to the Vaka tree branches. After charging, they can be removed and taken to other places where you need lighting and simply reattached to the branches to charge again. The bulb turns on and off by a simple squeeze of the bulb itself. As is claimed by the company, the Vaka design concept literally allows you to “take light anywhere”.
7. Light bulb hot air balloon
A giant light bulb-shaped hot air balloon took to the skies of Melbourne on 22nd March 2008, a week ahead of the Earth hour aimed at raising awareness of energy efficiency and energy consumption. Homes and businesses worldwide turned off their lights and electric appliances as a call to action on rapid climatic changes around the globe. The hot air balloon traveled from Bundoora and circled the city before landing at St. Kilda. The balloon measured 32 meters in height and featured the Earth Hour 60 logo with the slogan “We are up for Earth Hour”.
8. Scheisse pendant light
The Scheisse pendant light designed by Norwegian designer Hans Bleken Rud is a large pendant lamp with an elegant design and high artistic value. The pendant light is made of steel and a off-white matt covering with the light bouncing off the shattered segments. The lamp which is shaped like a broken light bulb has a height of 60 cm, diameter of 58 cm and is priced at a hefty sum of 587.99 pounds. With a blend of both aesthetic and industrial designs, the Scheisse pendant light bulb experiments with shadow and light, negative and positive shapes. Wherever you place it, this pendant lamp is sure to stand out and dominate a room.
9. Siamese light bulb
The first look at the Siamese light bulb is sure to take you by surprise. The cool design of this light bulb actually creates an optical illusion with the connector portion of the bulb sticking out on one side when it is screwed to any lighting fixture. The mystery is solved when the bulb is unscrewed. You will see a Siamese twin bulb with a couple of bases with just a single head. However, the feasibility of large scale commercial production of these light bulbs is still questionable.
10. Flat bulb by JoonHuyn Kim
Displayed at the 100% Design Tokyo in the year 2008, the Flat bulb is designed by Korean designer JoonHuyn Kim. The volume of the flat bulbs is only one-third of that of the regular bulbs making them suitable for easy stacking and shipping. Also, the flat shape of these bulbs makes them less susceptible for breaking as they do not roll. These innovative light bulbs are energy efficient and their smaller volume reduces packaging and transportation costs.