I recently ran across this post in design-milk about Starry Light, a collection of constellation lamps (top picture) by Anna Farkas and Miklós Batisz. The concept behind Starry Light isn't completely new, but the result is a beautifully designed solution to the conceptual problem. The first time I saw something like this was a Constellation Projector(second picture) I found my sophomore year of college because I thought the idea was so clever. In pictures, the projector looks simple enough, even if it's not meant to be accurate in its portrayal of the stars. However, it was a little disappointing to receive a small box in the mail with self assembling instructions in Mandarin, I don't know what I expected for $10. I did manage to put the thing together and used it for awhile, but it was top heavy, tipped over easily, and had a habit of getting really hot if you kept it on for too long. In retrospect, it seems fit that this experience happened my first year taking design courses. It was kind of like an invitation into the design world-what makes a good design? Concept is definitely important, but so is the process and execution. I think that they got the initial concept out, but they didn't really do anything to develop it beyond that. I was really happy to see the Starry Light project because it felt like they took that concept through the design process and got some really great results.
