pome
Project Overview
Pome is an outdoor lighting experience. Utilizing a solar panel located at the top of the fixture, it was made to be thrown into trees and to stay.
Using the idea of wishes in a tree, or the playfulness and the kinetic energy of the hula hoop, I decided to create a product that would bring that energy to outdoor lighting.
Product Summary & Design Story
Sketches & Collaboration
Usability Testing & Form Finalization
Product Information
Designed with an outdoor application in mind, Pome features a round solar panel so you don’t have to worry about running power. It’s a grab and go.
Pome was designed with production in mind. Both sizes utilize the same top while the bottom globe is interchangeable.
Materials were chosen for their outdoor durability. Quarter inch paracord is used as the hanging mechanism for the lamps. A 2.14” solar panel is embedded into the top making the lamp a truly outdoor lamp.
PETG with soft touch was added to make the lamp recyclable when the end of life occurs.
The lamp itself is a bipin G4 led, 3000K. The warm light was something that was integral to the project. The solar panel charges a lithium ion rechargeable battery.
Design Story
I wanted Pome to have a warm, inviting quality. I wanted to allow the end user to carve out their own outdoor space with light, whether in their backyard, the park, or on an adventure. Pome was created to bring people together and activate outdoor spaces.
Sketches
At first I was very stiff trying to design the final object without working through the process or evaluating what was needed for the product.
By changing my sketching approach, I was able to loosen up my design process throughout the project, and made the final design much more fun.
Mind Mapping
Mind mapping helped me find new connections for outdoor lighting. I was able to rapidly generate ideas that would have never come to mind otherwise. The ability to be able to doodle and explore interactions with trees, what you find in trees, ways to hang something, and other playful actions, helped me be much more generative. Mind mapping is something that can be applied to any field of design and is something that I am now utilizing in my designer tool belt.
Utilizing this method, I was able to find interesting relationships and objects that I could infuse into my product.
Sketch Prototypes
I decided to work with images of trees I had taken to better understand the relationship of the light fixture and the tree.
This specific sketch in the series was inspired by earrings and the hula hoop. These lights were staggered to make it look as if the tree itself was swinging the lamps on a branch.
Collaboration
Collaboration also helped me focus in on different forms. I had brought in multiple pages of sketches that I pinned up and gave each member of my cohort a cat. They then placed the cats across my sketches to notify what forms they were drawn to.
Once they had reviewed the sheets, I then asked for their feedback as to why they chose the forms they did. From there we sketched on my pages to further discuss potential steps moving forward.
This exercise helped me make design decisions more effectively. By having multiple opinions from different backgrounds, I was able to iterate faster and see outside of my perspective.
Testing the Idea
To get a better idea of the user experience, I made a quick mockup of the essential concept: two forms linked by a string. After tying to throw the mockup into branches, I discovered what would be difficult about getting the product into/out of the tree - and also what would be the most beautiful.
Even when the prototype was difficult to remove from the tree, it was still a very enjoyable experience.
Form Studies
After getting feedback from my peers, I explored the idea of having a larger and smaller unit together.
I drew the original sketches then played with proportion and shape in Illustrator.
Once I had started on these forms, I had realized that they felt almost fruit shaped when hung in a tree. This realization helped inform my color decisions
Colorways
When trying to come to a color scheme for Pome, I tried many different bright color combinations. After narrowing it down to the selection, I realized that the colors and the shape of the product were very close to fruit.
Following this realization, I decided to adopt colors from trees that bear fruit: oranges and peaches for the fruit color way, and olives for the neutral palette.
Orange - Pantone 2011 C
Peach - Pantone 2348 C
Olive - Pantone 4211 C
Dark Beige - Pantone 428 C
