Initial ideas: Neolithic era

For my Neolithic era brainstorm, I chose a few themes that could influence my designs. 

These include: farming and agriculture, pottery, monuments and their tools 

Zhonguo zhongda kaogu faxian (Beijing: Wenwu chubanshe, 1990), p. 55.

This was my first inspiration. As seen from my initial research, pottery was a great advancement in this era. Therefore, I wanted to depict this by creating a lamp which is identical to one of the pottery examples. My first instinct was to turn the vase upside down and then trace it in order to make it a table lamp. 

This is probably my favourite design out of all designs on this blog. It represents the era well and it is a very unique outcome. I like the use of the pattern on this and I feel like the colour scheme compliments it a lot. I think it was a good start to forming a new product that I can examine closely in my development stage. 

stone circles

This was the second design I looked at. In my research, I discovered that this was the era of stone circles. I decided to add two layers of stones in a circle to create a 'chandelier' looking ceiling lamp. I have mixed feelings about this design. 

Even though it represents one of their monuments, I do not find it very aesthetically pleasing or interesting enough for someone to purchase it. 

However, I still think that the monument concept could be developed to something great. Therefore, I will not discard this idea as I want to further develop it in my development stage.

tools used in the stone age

This was another design I looked at. I decided to take a more literal approach to this design and create a replica of an axe. I immediately discarded the thought of this idea. I think that it looks odd. I could not picture it co-existing in a modern space. 

I always like my designs to have hidden meanings to them, and not be exact replicas. I think the axe is also a concept I would not like a person to have in their room. I do not like the aesthetics of it and it looks very rough.

Stonehenge: Salisbury Plain, England.

This was another design of monuments I looked at. I like this one much more than the previous design. This is also a ceiling lamp, however, the way the stones overlap and form different shapes makes the design more interesting.

I also like how much it represents this monuments and looks like it. I will definitely consider developing this in the development stage. 

I think the stonehenge is very aesthetically pleasing to look at and it is definitely something that many people recognise immediately. 

Agricultural tools found in the Iberian settlement Bastida of Alcusses, ca. late 5th century B.C.E. to the 4th century B.C.E. Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons.

For this design, I drew inspiration from the top left tool that they used. I tried to replicate the shape in a more interesting way for a desk lamp. I also tried to create a similar shape to a tree, in order to replicate the agriculture and the farming that existed then. 

I thought I had a solid concept formed, however, I do not like the execution. A reason may be that this design was poorly made and rushed. However, I do not like the simplicity of this design. I believe that I can create more intricate and detailed designs which replicate this era more. 

Conclusion:

Even though the tools were a significant part of this era, I want to focus on either the monuments or the pottery. The pottery was a great advancement in this era and it contains a lot of very impressive designs, therefore, I would really like to look at it in more detail in my development stage.