TASK LIGHTING

Writer: Paul Taylor

Flicking through a fashion magazine the other day, I found myself noticing how the models were using their limbs to great effect, creating awkward angles that produced stunning poses. Making me turn my attention across the room towards my trusty old Anglepoise desk lamp, it made me realise that all this time I had been harbouring a model capable of these poses, without ever acknowledging just how beautiful a product the Anglepoise was. It looks so elegant, statuesque as a flamingo and graceful as a swan, it is hard to believe that an automotive engineer, George Carwardine, designed this iconic British design classic desired by many.

GIANT ANGLEPOISE

Herbert Terry & Sons first produced the Anglepoise in 1934 for the industrial market, but it proved so popular that two years later the 1227 version was launched for the domestic market. Over the years since that first Anglepoise, there have been several more versions produced by the family-run business, including the Giant Anglepoise 1227 and latest model, Fifty is three times the size of the original version and was launched to mark the 70th birthday of the original release. It is the latest Fifty version that has made me fall in love with the Anglepoise all over again, though. It was designed by Anthony Dickens, whose “inspiration came from the original Anglepoise lamp and the idea then to freeze it at fifty degrees, cast it like an old archaeological relic, strip it of production complexity, and shape it into something new that still retained a functionality and personality, but added a heightened playfulness to appeal to younger audiences.” Whilst Dickens’s design may not be able to create those stunning, awkward model poses like those before him, the Fifty has managed to maintain what the Anglepoise is essentially about—a functional lamp with huge doses of fun.

Perhaps the most famous Anglepoise to the youth of today would be that used by Disney/Pixar in the opening titles for all their current movie releases. They have taken the basic Anglepoise, and just like the characters in Toy Story, brought him to life with a fun personality that kids love. Whilst I love these little animation shorts, I think it is a shame that they take away from what is essentially a great design classic, robbing it of its history. Way before Disney/Pixar created their animated Anglepoise, Peter Ryde had produced step-frame animation Wranglepoise, a movie using step-by-step frames where Ryde lovingly moved the light by hand for each scene. Whilst the Wranglepoise production may not be as polished as the Disney/Pixar version, to me it is ten folds greater by having history and proving that, like the Anglepoise, some things get better with age and can’t be replaced.