100 Years of Perfect Light
It's no secret that at Pickle Design , where I work, we love design classics . We've chosen to illustrate quite a few of them for newsletters and calendars over the years. I just love discovering good design, and the stories behind it. One illustration I did which never saw the light of day was the PH lamp system designed by Poul Henningsen for Danish lighting company Louis Poulsen . The distinctive three-shade system was developed during 1925–26, so a century later seemed like a very good excuse to bring it out again. Henningsen was fascinated by light but frustrated by glare. Rather than simply hiding the bulb, he took a much more scientific approach to controlling and softening the light it produced. The geometry of his shades was based on the logarithmic spiral, a form familiar from the natural world. By carefully calculating the curves and position of each shade, he could distribute the light more evenly and create a softer glow without the uncomfortabl...