Blog #5

^Pictures of lamp without lighting^

Last lesson I started on lighting. I started by measuring how long my strip of LED light should be and cutting it out. Then I collected 1 red and 1 blue wire. Firstly, I had to use the soldering iron make two small blobs of the soldering metal onto one end of the strip of LED light. Then I soldered a little of the metal onto the end on both wires. I then carefully placed one of the wire ends onto the blob and melted them together. After I had finished soldering, I had to check if the light was wired right and worked, so I put each end of the red and blue wire attached to the strip of light to the two main wire. Sadly, for some reason it didn't light up. I went back to investigate the source of the problem and found that there was to much of the soldering metal. So after I fixed that problem and the light was working, I went and put the black rubber tube over where the wire attached to the LED light strip to protect it, and sealed it shut with a blow torch. The last thing I had to do was attach the light strip to the top of the lamp structure, stick the wires in place and last but not least, push in the long white strip to cover up the wires. I really enjoyed todays lesson and can't wait for the next when I might be able to finally finish my lamp!

Assesment

One of James Clar's art works 'Waveform'.

1) What is the actual difference between light of different colours?

The difference between light of different colours is frequency of EM waves (wave lengths) which determines the amount of energy it contains. Different colours of light have different frequencies and amounts of energy.

2) Define the following lighting terms: (ambient light, direct light diffuser, luminosity, energy efficiency, watts)?

ambient light- The light surrounding an environment or subject.

direct light diffuser- Light that strikes a smooth surface, reflecting back in the same concentration, making it a soft light with neither the intensity nor the glare of direct light.

luminosity- The quality of emitting or reflecting light.

energy efficiency- An appliance or tool that reduces the amount of energy necessary to operate machinery .

watts- A kind of unit of measurement to express electrical power or light.

3) Comment on global warming:

Global Warming is the gradual increase in the temperature of the earth's atmosphere. It was agreed that human activity is very likely the cause for the rapid increase in global average temperatures over the past several decades. We dig up oil and coal and burn it to produce energy, but while doing that, we release carbon into the air which is causing a lot of the global warming. One way to reduce the carbon being released into the air is using energy efficiently and correctly. Reducing the amount of energy you use around the house will reduce the amount of coal that needs to burn to support the amount of power you want.

4) How can the modern home become more energy efficient with regard to lighting?

Instead of using lights like: Fluorescent lights, Halogens or CFL's; use LED lights.

5) Research a modern-day lighting designer and comment on their contribution to the design world:

James Clar is a modern-day lighting designer. He creates a fusion of technology, popular culture and visual information into art. Clar trys to often control and manipulate light. His art work contributes to the design world by showing nationalism, globalism and popular culture in the age of mass information. Also, while exposing the difference between Western media and Middle Eastern media.

Blog #4

Last lesson was a little difficult because the lesson before that I didn't get to finish screwing in one of my Phillips heads so I used the electric drill. At first it was working fine but near the end the drill kept popping out of the hole. It took a while but it worked eventually after putting more force on the drill. I didn't get to start lighting my lamp yet but next lesson I will. Can't wait!

Blog #3

I had a lot of fun last lesson. I had already bent my lamp to the shape I wanted, so the next thing to do was to drill it to my base. I stuck with the normal rectangle base then the triangle base. I first needed to mark on the lamp where I wanted the base to be attached and drill two holes there with the big drill. Then I needed to place the lamp structure where I wanted it to be on the base and used a small drill to drill there the holes were going to be. After that, I needed to get two Phillips head screws and hand turn them into the holes. Once I can't screw them in by hand anymore, I eventually used an electric screw driver attaching the metal lamp structure to the base. This was a lot of fun to do. After I just check to see if the screws are in properly I think I'll be able to start on the lighting!

Blog #2

Today was a really productive day! We got to go in the work shop and start on our lamps. I had finally chosen which lamp design I was going to do which was design 4. I did change a little bit of it and decided to start the first bend right onto of the base. And also, instead of the light facing straight down, I got the stem of the lamp to face on a more vertical angle. I found this easy as all I had to do was mark where I wanted the metal to bend. I'm really exited for next lesson when I can do more hands on stuff.

Blog #1

DF has definitely been fun so far. Mr Ward in hilarious. I've been trying to choose which lamp design would be the best choice from the ideation I drew up (top left). I narrowed it down to 2 or 4 (even though I liked the idea of the triangle base) because I felt they were the most practical and looked the best. I feel I should choose 4 instead of 2 because the square base would be behind where the light would be, which would give more space for whatever work the user is doing but I'm not sure. I really need to decide because next lesson we will actually be starting on making the lamps (which I'm very exited about). We have also been practicing Isomectric drawings (bottom left) and Mr Ward kindly gave us all chocolate last lesson. I hope he does that again some other time! Can't wait for the next lesson! :)