When I was designing the Nightside NS01 I always knew I wanted to explore different printed designs for the cloth shades. But rather than do simple repeat patterns, I wanted to play with "engineered" print designs that play off the lamp's unique aspects and hopefully evoke something more. The idea of designing something that appeared to be overflowing and spilling over the top of the shade seemed like a really striking visual that I hadn't seen in any other lighting products. But what would be the design spilling over?
I have two young children, and they each have a Nightside lamp in their bedroom, which we use to read at bedtime. My kids love the soft light from the lamp, and that they can adjust the spotlight for reading. One night after my younger daughter had fallen asleep, I was looking at the lamp and thinking about the design when the image of red hearts flowing over the shade suddenly came to me. Any parent knows how overwhelming the feeling of love for one's children can be, and I thought this image captured that emotion for me.
The next day, I started sketching out the concept on paper wrapped around the lamp, just to get a sense of how big the hearts would be and how they would be grouped. It was pretty clear they would need a dark outline so you could distinguish them as they overlapped and bunched up near the top of the shade. I also knew I wanted to make it more playful, so that's where I got the idea to bring in a pixelated 8-bit video game style. It's funny how video games now are hyper-realistic, but kids still respond to the old 8-bit graphic style. It evokes a cute, playful and approachable feeling that also works with the aesthetic of the lamp.
With these choices made, it was time to send the design off to the printer, and then to be cut and sewn by our shade manufacturing partners, based right here in the SF Bay Area. I love working locally and meeting personally with our vendors because it establishes so much more trust on both sides.
A few weeks later I had the finished shades in my hands and I couldn't be happier with the results. My kids both have the red hearts shades on their lamps, and they love to going to bed with this fun new design. I also love looking at it while they're going to sleep, feeling like it captures what I'm feeling in my heart at that exact moment.
