Lighting can be used to create a mood, illuminate a dark area, ‘decorate’ a room with patterns of light, and can offer reassurance to young children to help them feel safe at night or to help them to fall asleep.
You are required to Design and Make a mood lamp to be used in a specific room (of your choice), in a house or boarding house or you can design it as a gift for someone you know who would like a mood lamp.
To improve your design understanding you will consider designing the lamp for someone else. Whoever you choose to design for is called the 'User Group'.
Restrictions are set so that solving the design problem is made easier for you and that you all work using the same constraints. The format of the lamp you will be making is made up of 2 main elements - a base and a shade. Examples of lamps made by year 8 students, following this format can be seen at the bottom of this page.
The materials that you will be using to manufacture your lamp base are Acrylic, Light Gathering Acrylic, and a choice of a light or dark Hardwood. The base comprises of 4 layers and you must prioritise your base design to have a creative shape that makes use of the 4 layers of material.
The finish of your Lamp must be of the highest quality, showing off the beautiful wood grain and the polished edges of the Acrylic. It is this material combination that can look stunning if ‘finished’ well.
You must join (solder) the electronic components provided to make a working Lamp circuit. The circuit must fit in the cavity shape shown in the middle of the drawing below.
You can make the Lamp ‘Shade’ using any material or manufacturing process available to you in the DT department this can include laser cutting and 3D Printing but must not exceed 3 seperate pieces.
Your Lamp must have no sharp edges.
Your Lamp must not exceed the dimensions (sizes) given. These are shown in the drawings.
Copy the context, design brief and design restrictions onto your website. Present this information clearly.