We had the distinct pleasure to interview award winning designer Francesco Dolce about their original and creative Smart Lamp design work. Francesco Dolce is an award-winning industrial designer, that makes our world a better place with their original smart lamp works.
Francesco Dolce ("FD") answered Design Interview ("DI") questions about their award-winning work Luna Smart Lamp. Interview questions prepared by Frank Scott.
FD : Luna Smart Lamp is the result of a 2 years deep research in different fields: design and technology. A constant fine tuning of each detail in order to deliver a simple, functional, straightforward to use product. We focused on the user experience to make something that was useful and necessary several times during the day: light, music, wireless charging and Alexa functionality all in a single design.
FD : People’s nightstands and desks are often cluttered and unorganized, creating chaos and frustration. According to us, multiple functionalities shouldn’t mean multiple devices and that’s why we created Luna. With Luna we want to give the user the option to save money, space and to minimize the impact on the environment. Luna replaces 4 products with less plastic and packaging, with decreased pollution from manufacturing and shipping, we are delivering a smart product with more value to the market.
FD : We managed to create a super-versatile product for multiple uses so we hope that Luna will have a special location both in consumers’ homes, offices and in restaurants that are struggling to effectively respond to their client requests for charge.
FD : The project started in 2017 in Milan. Since then my team and I have been in constant research, development, licensing, prototyping and iteration stages. We worked over two years to bring Luna to life, with the precious help of the Amazon Alexa team and its partners that supported us in our effort to merge aesthetic and function without compromises. We tested hundreds of designs before finding the perfect shape. We experimented with countless iterations to create the first Italian Smart Lamp ever made.
FD : Luna was born from an inspiration. Everything started from my own frustration for a super cluttered nightstand. So, my team and I wanted to revisit the classical nightstand lamp by creating a new layer of technology: light, music, wireless charging and Alexa functionality all in a single design.
FD : Luna Smart Lamp was designed by me for Woodie Milano, the company of which I am co-founder and designer.
FD : With the number of Smart Assistants projected at 200 Million units by the end of 2019, hardware differentiation capable of generating a ‘wow factor’ will be key to change consumers’ perception. In this regard, Luna ticks all the boxes when it comes to delivering extra features seamlessly combined into a design piece, unlike anything else currently on the market.
FD : There are so many great design masters that is difficult to identify the one who is responsible for my inspiration. Every time I face a new project there is a new legend to get inspired from.
FD : Luna is the perfect device for everyone who wants to declutter his nightstand, office desk or end table, providing everything he/she needs to keep his/her devices close at hand.
FD : Currently on the market there isn’t any product like Luna works as a lamp (with the option to control light color and intensity), a wireless charger, a high quality bluetooth speaker and has Amazon Alexa built-in. It was a long journey to develop the first Italian Smart Lamp, but we’re proud to have developed something truly unique.
FD : Luna means moon in English and we decided to give this name to our design because it is the light that illuminates every bedside table at night, freeing the chaos of cables and multiple devices. Also, the design and shape remind us of a full moon.
FD : The design was conceived directly on a parametric software, that gave us the possibility to shape the product as it was being crafted. Blow molding injection allow us to generate our geometry with no junction signs on the diffuser surface. LED light is first conveyed in a PMMA cylinder that distributes the emission to the outer diffuser with a perfect and smooth illumination. Amazon’s official system integrator partnered with us in order to develop specific hardware solutions that would fit our design needs.
FD : The most unique aspect of Luna's design is the fact that so many components perfectly coexist in such a small volume, without compromising on the quality of the features.
FD : I collaborate with all my Woodie Milano team. Despite in our company there's no one with my same academic path, I always share my ideas with the team in order to get their feedback and get the full picture before finalizing my designs.
FD : My company, Woodie Milano, is a pioneer in combining design with cutting edge technology since 2015. We followed the same principle also in the creation of Luna Smart Lamp. Since wireless charging and voice assistants are becoming more and more popular and adapted worldwide, Luna is a future-proof product.
FD : An experience-based approach is at the foundation of our design process. Collecting data with surveys on online communities of clients and friends regarding both design and functionalities from around 250 people from different ages, countries and backgrounds. A constant research of tech trends lead us to implement Alexa voice system before it was adopted by a mass audience.
FD : User interface and user experience were the biggest challenges. Fitting so many functions in a small object meant it would also require a rich physical interface that had to be coordinated without compromising the user experience. From a tech point of view, working with new technologies meant having room to invent and improve new solutions. The biggest challenge was to embed multiples functions in a design and let them coexist perfectly.
FD : I decided to apply for this design competition because my team and I firmly believe that Luna is a one-of-a-kind product, which has all the credentials to shake up the lighting products and smart home markets, because it's a lamp, a wireless charger, a speaker and a voice assistant all merged into one single design object.
FD : It has been a long work because we have tried several attempts before getting to build Luna, so patience is a skill I came across many times. Without the support of my team, I couldn't have done it.
