Designing with transparent lighting: A Do-It-Yourself approach

Designing with transparent lighting: A Do-It-Yourself approach

Claus, S.J.

Jansen, K.M.B. (mentor)
Barati, B. (mentor)

Industrial Design Engineering

Design Engineering

2016-05-04

Electroluminescent material is a light emitting electrically powered composite which consists of a stacked sequence of various specific materials. At the faculty of Industrial Design Engineering there is always an interest for the development of new materials. Yet there is a knowledge gap between the theory and the practical DIY fabrication of electroluminescents (ELs). This graduation assignment will demonstrate practical knowledge on the DIY production of electroluminescent materials and the fabrication parameters. This will be moulded into a design with a working prototype/ demonstrator. The project starts by analysing the internal workings of the luminous material (phosphors) and the material properties of the composite and sensory properties of the emitted light. In order to explore the context of the material current uses are investigated and the ELs are compared with other light emitting materials. Simultaneously practical fabrication of the material (tinkering) is used to gain knowledge and insights for development opportunities. The variations of EL samples made during tinkering are used to map the experiential qualities of the material which in turn is used for the experience vision of the final application. The insight collected during the tinkering are converted into a summary with helpful diagrams like a problem solving flowchart for future DIY EL fabrication projects. The analysis was the essential foundation for the ideation phase which lead to the development of the material demonstrator that is called “Regenlicht - a Drop of Light”. This device is an umbrella that analogously lights up parts of the canvas that are hit by raindrops. This spectacular sight transforms a negative context (a rainy day) into a marvellous experience. It does that while on a technical level it shows the unique material properties Of electroluminescent material like being luminous, semi transparent, light weight, flexible, and many more...

electroluminescent material
EL composites
light design
DIY approach
transparent lighting
screen printing
tinkering

http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:9e310465-6628-4e0d-a9d9-1665f7ee5b13

Campus only

Student theses

master thesis

(c) 2016 Claus, S.J.