Programme Outline
The programme is about the importance of light and colour to the designer and is focused around four main aspects:
- the emotional influence of colour
- how architectural lighting designers use colour
- the rise and fall and rise again of the Lava Lamp and associated products
- the new profession of future colour prediction
0.00-1.20
The emotional influence of colour - the viewer is introduced to the emotional aspects of colour through phrases such as 'green with envy' and 'seeing red with anger'.
1.20-6.05
Architectural lighting designers Kevan Shaw and Keith Bradshaw describe how they have used various forms of lighting in a Glasgow theatre complex to:
- change the mood of the visitor as they pass through the various parts of the building including the entrance lobby, bars, corridors and auditorium
- direct theatre-goers within the complex through the use of electro-luminescent panels
- create a light show using neon and argon light tubes, controlled with a micro-electronic control panel
A computer-simulated model of the theatre's lighting system was used by the designers to present their ideas to the client.
6.05-10.45
The rise, fall and rise again of the 1960s icon, the Mathmos Lava Lamp designed by Edward Craven Walker, is explained by the new owner of the company. The basic principle of the lamp is that coloured wax, encapsulated in a 'secret' viscous liquid, is heated in the base of the lamp. When heated, the wax becomes less dense, causing it to rise to the surface, where it then cools and sinks.
This section encourages the viewer to reflect on the part fashion, re-design and advertising has on many aspects of product design. In order to diversify their product range, a new silicon 'bubble light' has been designed. This consists of a rechargeable 3.5v nickel battery, a high intensity LED, circuit and switch all housed in a polypropylene pod encapsulated in a tactile silicon ball which glows in the dark when operated.
10.45-13.45
Edina Kopola describes her work as a colour predictor for the fashion and consumer product industry. Colour prediction as a profession started in the 1960s with the growth of the fashion industry and now strongly influences a wide range of consumer products ranging from kettles to cars. The programme investigates the current trend of metallic finishes across a range of fashion and consumer items, concluding with the chameleon-like paint finish used on TVR cars which change colour when viewed from different angles.
