01
Brief
Individual 3 months work in 2021 Fall
FungiGlow is a mushroom light designed to foster interaction with nature for those in urban environments. Fungiglow's adorable mushroom shape and warm glow offer city dwellers a bridge for urbanites to embrace nature within their own spaces.
Natural
Multi Scenario
Easy Assembly
2023 A' Design Award, Bronze, Italy
2023 IDA Award, Gold, USA
2021 SIT Furniture Design Award, Winner, USA
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Click below video to see an intro about Fungilow.
03
Design background
Fungiglow is a lamp "designed for people living in urban environments to embrace nature indoors."
In the bustling city, where life never slows down, office workers feel growing daily stress. Here, the desire for nature becomes stronger, yet nature remains beyond city dwellers' reach.
Our souls crave nature's embrace, our minds seek relaxation, and our eyes long for the sight of green.
What if there's a light that brings nature indoors and conveys a sense of warmth?
Fungiglow is a nature-inspired light. Mushroom symbolizes protection, uniqueness, and warmth.
04
Design process
Through research and trend analysis, I realize the importance of sustainable products and decide to use sustainable material and flat-pack design.
Mushrooms
Overnight, very
Whitely, discreetly,
Very quietly
Our toes, our noses
Take hold on the loam,
Acquire the air.
Nobody sees us,
Stops us, betrays us;
The small grains make room.
-Wendell Berry
I spend a long time figuring out a way to make the light flat-packable and balance functionality with aesthetic appeal. Also, I want to turn install process into an interesting and ceremonial experience that connect the user and fungiglow.
During form explorations, I found this little mushroom colony ...
This is my mushroom colony. Different proportions seem to symbolize distinct personalities and unique emotions.
INFJ
ENTP
INFP
ESTJ
For the material, I decided to use Polylactic Acid (PLA), a biodegradable material made from renewable resources (corn starch & tapioca roots). This transparent material also allows it to blend into the environment and fit into multi scenarios.
05
Final outcome
When you receive Fungiglow...
You can experience a ceremonial opening and interesting installation process by following the manual on the package. This fun DIY experience brings closer the relationship between Fungiglow and the user.
What's in the package?
Light Shelter
Light bulb
Light bulb
Remote Control
Bottom Structure
Holding Structure
Package
Solar Panel
Manual
Step 1
Insert the round piece into the holder
Step 5
Insert the rest of the pieces to the structure
Step 2
Insert another round piece into the holder
Step 6
Joint the light shelter
Step 3
Insert half of slices into the current structure
Step 4
Connect the light bulb with the wire below
Step 7
Insert the larger circle above current structure
Step 8
Put the light shelter above the structure
Fungiglow is ...
A light that conveys a sense of warmth
You can place Fungiglow ...
in outdoor environment
The Peace of Wild Things
When despair for the world grows in me
and I wake in the night at the least sound
in fear of what my life and my children’s lives may be,
I go and lie down where the wood drake
rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds.
I come into the peace of wild things
who do not tax their lives with forethought
of grief. I come into the presence of still water.
And I feel above me the day-blind stars
waiting with their light. For a time
I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.
-Wendell Berry
05
Self Reflection
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FungiGlow is the beginning of my product design studies and career.
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I spent three weeks on the final prototype iterations, while adapting to remote learning in Shanghai and challenges in achieving the desired proportion and aesthetic due to COVID-19 limitations.
