Self-initiated - Lighting Design
ICO Lamp
A sculptural desk lamp designed around architectural form, built by hand, branded, and sold independently.
Role
Lead Industrial Designer
Scope
Manufacturing
Brand Identity
Packaging
Collaborators
Sole designer
Outcome
10+ units sold, self-manufactured and shipped
The Challenge
Brutalist architecture has always pulled me in. I like how it uses raw materials and strong geometric form to make a statement without extra decoration. ICO came out of that interest. My goal was to design something sculptural and functional that people would find convenient for every day use.
Strategy
I started exploring concrete as the primary material. It fit the aesthetic and I liked where it was going visually. But once I got into prototyping, the problems became clear pretty fast. The surface finish was inconsistent, the molds couldn't hold up through multiple pours, and the cured weight made shipping a real concern. I started thinking about how to solve it and realized the answer was right in front of me. The casting enclosure itself was cheap, sturdy, and lightweight. It hit every mark. I switched directions and the form got cleaner immediately.
Design
Every lamp was hand-assembled, friction fit, no screws and no glue. I aligned the wood grain across panels to hide the seam lines. The frosted acrylic cap was CNC cut to nest flush inside the shade and diffuse the light evenly. Brushed aluminum tubes were cut, polished, and seated into precisely dimensioned vinyl channels.
The side dish was designed to sleeve directly over the shade so the whole product packed into one bag. Cleaner shipping, nothing wasted.
Branding
I named it ICO first and gave it meaning after. Interconnected Cubic Objects. The packaging followed the same thinking as the lamp itself, keep the minimalism consistent all the way through. Brown kraft bag, white rectangle at the handle, letters cut out so the bag color fills them. Simple, considered, nothing added that didn't belong.
Outcome
I built a set of 8 and showcased them at a local pop-up. It was the first time the product was in front of real people and the response validated everything, the form, the price, the brand. The price reflected the craft and because people saw the value in it, the lamps sold out that day. Demand came back so I built 4 more and shipped them out.
