Gold Lighting Products and Fixtures Design · 2020
Pluto Task Lamp
- A' Design Award 2020 Gold Winner in Lighting Products and Fixtures Design
- Awarded April 15, 2020
- CLIENT: Gantri
- Estimated Number of Design Views: 57,581
- Verification code A9D0B37044 · Verify this award
About Pluto Task Lamp
Pluto keeps the focus firmly on style. Its compact, aerodynamic cylinder is orbited by an elegant handle perched over an angled tripod base, making it easier to position with its soft-but-focused light with precision. Its form was inspired by telescopes, but instead, it seeks to focus on the earth instead of the stars. Made with 3d printing utilizing corn-based plastics, it is unique, not only for using 3d printers in an industrial fashion, but also eco-friendly.
Emerging from contemporary traditions of functional minimalism and the enduring legacy of thoughtful industrial design, Heitor Lobo Campos's Pluto Task Lamp represents an accomplished synthesis of sculptural presence and utilitarian purpose. The work participates in a distinguished lineage of designer lighting that treats the luminaire as an opportunity for formal expression, following paths established by influential mid-twentieth-century practitioners who recognized the lamp as a legitimate vehicle for aesthetic exploration. Campos demonstrates notable command of geometric vocabulary, deploying the cylinder, cone, and circle in harmonious proportion to create an object that reads simultaneously as practical tool and contemplative form. The tripod base configuration, with its three elegantly tapered legs spread in stable equilibrium, introduces an almost zoomorphic quality that softens the object's otherwise rigorous geometry, suggesting perhaps a creature at rest or an observatory instrument trained upon some point of interest. Technical execution appears exemplary, with seamless transitions between components, consistent surface treatment, and careful attention to the proportional relationships that distinguish refined design from mere adequacy. The warm cream tonality of the illuminated aperture introduces a humanizing element into the otherwise achromatic composition, this single chromatic intervention functioning as the work's visual and metaphorical heart. One might observe how the designer has balanced competing demands with apparent effortlessness, achieving stability without heaviness, directionality without rigidity, and presence without ostentation. The name itself, referencing the celestial body, invites contemplation of this small light source as a personal planet of illumination, a contained universe of warm radiance within the workspace. Viewers are encouraged to consider how the most successful functional objects often achieve their effectiveness precisely through the care invested in their aesthetic resolution, form and function intertwined in mutual enhancement.
Press Kit
- Unique Properties
- Pluto keeps the focus firmly on style. Its compact, aerodynamic cylinder is orbited by an elegant handle perched over an angled tripod base, making it easier to position with precision.
Pluto is designed for the office, study or bedroom, with soft-but-focused light that is perfect for writers, illustrators or anyone who is particular about where-and-how their light source meets their working surface. - Dimensions & Packaging
- Height 317.5 mm x Depth 254 mm x Width 247.65 mm
1.3 Kg
Bulb: 9W A19 LED Bulb (90+ CRI, 800 Lumens, Soft-white).
Switch: Dimmable switch on-cord. 100-120V US 2-prong plug.
Electrical component certified by SGS for UL and CSA. Manufactured at the Gantri Factory in San Leandro, California. - Tags
- 3d printing, brazilian design, space, focus, PLA
- Production Technology
- Pluto was manufactured by Gantri, a company based in San Francisco. It utilizes corn-based plastics. Making it not only innovative, for using 3d printers in a industrial fashion, but also very eco-friendly.
- Design Challenge
- In order to make the design viable for FDM 3d Printing, we had to test out and split it into various interconnecting pieces that were later assembled together to form the final product.
- Project Duration
- The project started as an individual project from March to the end of June 2018 and was developed alongside Gantri's engineering from July 2018 to January of 2019.
- Operation Flow
- Pluto is equipped with a dimmable LED bulb that is regulated by a switch attached to its power cord. The amount of light being cast can be controlled to the user's preference.
- Research
- We worked on developing a complex form, full of negative space while still facilitating the printing and assembly process.
- Inspiration
- Pluto was inspired by telescopes, which use tripods and dynamic but stable forms. But instead, I sought to design a light that focuses on the earth instead of the stars.
- Image Credits
- All images: Gantri Inc
Colors of Pluto Task Lamp
Get Pluto Task Lamp
Design Interview about Pluto Task Lamp
With Pluto I wanted to design task light that could have a dynamic form while still being manufactured with FDM 3d printing. My main inspiration for its silhouette were telescopes, specially due to their interesting but stable forms.
I wanted to explore the negative space in its form, to express more "character" in its design. The handle that orbits the main light shaft is one of the key features in completing its zestful outline.
For the near future it will still be sold and manufactured by Gantri, with their innovative digital manufacturing for designer lighting.
From initial sketches to final prototyping, it was designed for a good part of one year.
I decided to pursue it myself, I had many different ideas for task lights in mind, so I wanted to put them to the test. As it's clear now, Pluto was the most unique and interesting of the bunch.
It's being manufactured and sold by Gantri, a San Francisco startup focused on eco-friendly, digital manufacturing for designer lighting.
In the end of the day, interest, really. I had designed a lamp for the same company (Gantri) before. I enjoyed it a lot, very much so that I wanted to see how I could create a task light, as opposed to a wider area light.
I have many that influenced my work in general, mainly the Eames couple. But I would't be able to pinpoint a specific designer's influence on my ideas for Pluto.
I think Pluto is perfect for writers, illustrators or anyone who is particular about where-and-how their light source meets their working surface.
Pluto keeps the focus firmly on style. Its compact, aerodynamic cylinder is orbited by an elegant handle perched over an angled tripod base, making it easier to position with precision.
Pluto is named after the famous dwarf planet, since the design's form has a handle that "orbits" its main body and was inspired by telescopes.
Mostly sketching (digital and pen) for the first development of the idea, followed by CAD modeling software to further bring it to life.
Its elegant handle that orbits it's main cylinder, it makes it easier to position the light target with precision.
I worked with the engineering team at Gantri, they helped refine details, how to effectively manufacture it for 3d printing and advanced prototyping.
Pluto was designed to be manufactured with FDM on-demand 3d printing, besides using more sustainable materials, it was made to be printed in five different parts in order to curb the use of supports and other wasted materials.
There was a long process of back-and-forth on refining the final form and its angles, specially between the tripod legs and main body, that would allow it to be printed more easily and in fewer parts.
Pluto was the second light I designed for Gantri, so I had more experience when it launched, in general I saw that I received a lot more compliments from designers for it over my first lamp, and that gave me the confidence to submit it to a competition.