This is the second part of the the GreenHouse Effect concept series, showing and explaining some of the thoughts behind the design concepts. The GreenHouse Effect is an exhibition by Orcadesign as part of the Singapore Design Festival, exploring what it means to tackle sustainability through design.
This is the Black Out Lamp. In normal days, it sits pretty as per any normal table lamp, casting light through the efficient LED light bulbs. But it’s more than just a table lamp – if and when you need a torch, you can actually detach the ‘lamp’ portion and use it as a torch, as the internal circuit can be switched to run on battery mode instead. For the same function (of illumination), we don’t really need two separate products (lamp + torch). They could very well be the same thing – plus you can definitely find it much easier compared to ransacking your third drawer in the store room.
The question – what exactly is a vase? Do we need a real, whole (and pretty) object to place flowers in, or is a simple facade up to the mark? Made of industrial felt, the construction of the Facade Vase is absolutely simple – two flat pieces of felt sewn together. It then becomes a parasite onto a ‘partner’ as structure – the omnipresent PET bottle that we almost certainly can find around our house – and becomes a fully functional vase. It is a versatile design too – different silhouette gives rise to rather different visual outcome.
Post-It pads are almost exclusively used on one side only. We also often scribble only on one side of our notepads. So, we have two ‘one-sided’ products. In this concept Post-It Notepad, the second life usability is built into the design. You start off with the notepad (using one side, presumably). When you’re done, you can remove the cover, turn it over and you get a Post-It pad. A product’s reincarnation is straightforward and integrated within the design – turning two ‘one-sided’ products into a single ‘double-sided’ one.
[This post is a part of the series on the ‘GreenHouse Effect’ exhibition under the Singapore Design Festival].
