Good Design: When Packaging is The Product

The problem with much packaging is that it is designed to become obsolete: it often ceases to be useful beyond getting the product home. This is particularly true of furniture and lighting.

This idea is debunked by Light2Go. The packaging is fundamentally part of the lighting device.
























The packaging that houses all the contents.....



















......becomes the external shade when used as a hanging lamp and as an internal structure when used in the desk lamp configuration, shown here.






















The result is reduced waste. The 'life' of the package is long - as long as the lamp is being used. Now that's good responsible design.

It was bought at the gift shop at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, which we at OFD think is quite apt. After all, anything that subverts and overcomes the limitations inherent in traditional design thinking, without compromising form or function is art indeed.