The Tizio Lamp
Moving from Oxford to Dundee was a big step for me as it was a new city where I was beginning a new chapter in my life. I say that as if its a bad thing but its the complete opposite. I was excited for the journey ahead but the nerves kicked in when it was time to knuckle down and kickstart my life as a Product Design student. After a (very) quick fire introduction we were introduced to our first task: to deconstruct the shape and form of Richard Sapper’s Tizio desk lamp and construct a 1:1 scale model of it in teams.
We started by looking at the example we were provided with and investigating how it moved. We very quickly realised that the counterweight system would be an issue, however instead of focusing on this as it was the most challenging aspect of the model we chose to focus on the overall form of the lamp, arguably this was our biggest mistake. As a relatively small team of four we sketched the lamp and split it up and each made separate parts so that we could efficiently use our time. In an attempt to ensure that our model was accurate we kept on referring back to actual lamp as well as checking with the dimensions we were provided with and each other.
Once all the individual parts had been constructed it was time to put the whole lamp together, this was quite challenging as the parts didn’t all quite fit together exactly right and as a result we used a lot of masking tape – in fact at times it might be fair to say that the model was mostly tape. Unfortunately a major problem quickly arose – it couldn’t stand up by itself. By not constructing the model as a whole earlier on we failed to take into account the fact that the lamp needed to balance. We also had not really made it possible to attach weights to the ends of the arms so after struggling to tape coins, craft knives, and rulers to the model we eventually decided that all these were changing the form of the model and it was no longer an accurate representation of the lamp so we decided to glue the arms in place to preserve the overall look of the model.
I think the biggest mistake we made in this task was focusing on the individual components of the lamp instead of the overall structure of the lamp. Instead of individually making separate parts, we should have put the parts together as we made them starting from the base so that we would be able to spot any problems quickly. I do, however, think our model does fairly accurately represent the form of the Tizio lamp, but in the future I would focus more on the function of the model.
Reinventing the Tizio Lamp
After exploring the shape and form of the Tizio lamp we were individually tasked with reinventing it. As the design brief was so open, I decided to start by asking why would I reinvent the lamp. I realised that as the lamp is fairly large, some people with mobility problems may struggle to lift the lamp to the position they want it in. So I decided to explore how I could change the structure of the lamp to make it more accessible. My initial thought was to find a system that requires a small amount of force to be applied to one component to move another much further.
I then decided to analyse the Tizio lamp so that I could identify which aspects of the design I wanted to keep. These were: the basic shape, the elimination of wires through the metal bars, and the use of only one material. Following this I brainstormed my ideas and came up with my design.
After the initial sketching I started to make the model using foam board for the basic structure and cardboard for the detail. Learning from the mistakes we made during the initial task I started by making the base and built upwards. This allowed me to check that everything was in proportion, as well as constantly checking that the pivot system was going to work. I decided that since this model would be functional to a certain extent it needed to be more sturdy then the first, so I used masking tap to hold the pieces together as I was cutting them all out and then glued them together 
My final model was very similar to my initial design. Aesthetically I am very happy with the model and I think it’s been very useful in exploring the movement of the lamp. I definitely didn’t completely figure out the movement of the lamp, however, I do understand the system a lot more now. If I were to take this design further I would look at using two pivots instead of just one and how the lengths of the arms would affect the movement. One aspect of the Tizio lamp I didn’t incorporate into my design at all was the counterweight system and it would be interesting to see how incorporating this could improve the accessibility of the lamp by making it lighter.
So let’s have a reflection of my first project as a Product Design student. Well for starters, I wasn’t expecting to be this stressed in the first week. But that’s probably just me. It really was a fun project even though I did spend most of my time trying to cut straight peices of cardboard. I hadn’t realised how much I’d missed designing and making over the summer period. Fingers crossed week two will be less stressful as I’ll be more prepared this time!!
Lois Faye Design 