Caleo® is the modern reinterpretation of a natural wax – night candle. The idea is, to preserve the traditional interaction of mankind with light, by sparing the product of any buttons. Every traditional and sensual function of a night candle got reworked into more modern and contemporary features – all combined into one product. The lamp serves as a portable aroma diffuser, giving you romantic lighting together with soothing and refreshing fragrances by evaporating essential oils. Caleo enhances your mood, helps you concentrate during work or study, helps you to fall asleep or provides you with a general relaxing and healthy atmosphere. The project was my Bachelor Thesis at the Hochschule Rhein–Waal in 2017.
The process of choking the flame of the candle with a candle snuffer is long forgotten and not used anymore. The product interaction remains interesting though. ‘‘Originality extracts astounding ideas from the crevices of the commonness of everyday life’’ (Kenya Hara, 2011) was the phrase which inspired me to take this old idea of a candle and turn it into something more modern and contemporary. The ring now has the function of the candle snuffer and by moving it down the main tube you enlighten the lamp. Also you trigger the aroma function and several other features of the lamp by interacting with the switch. The task was to not add any buttons or touch functions but to rely on real physical product interactions.
The visualization concept of this project expresses itself in a duality between old & new. Since I am referencing and old product interaction and transferring it into something new I thought that this kind of duality would be the best design formular for every visualization layer. This concept of duality does not only express itself as old & new but also further as on & off, black & white, uppercase & lowercase etc. So whenever there was a design decision to make, I could refer to this system and express this kind of duality for example also in a typographical way, as explained later.
The product sphere of this product are living assecories and the candle lamp would fill a small product gab between regular table lamps and aroma diffusers. All the functions you will see later are possible to create and to reproduce for the market. The candle lamp would be a device to upgrade your home experience while also being able to transport it for further outdoor situations. Relaxation, People, Music, Work and Home are worlds this product would fill.
Akzidenz & Clarendon are the two typefaces chosen for this project. To transfer the system of duality in a typographical way, I thought that I should choose two old typefaces which would be used within this modern project and placed on contemporary media. The bold Clarendon typeface (1845) was used for the wordmark and the name of the producer. Akzidenz Grotesk (1896) was used for the basic lamp component lumina and every other typographical layouts. Both typefaces carry tradition and originality and carry the system of old & new while being used within this project. The naming of the wordmark and the sub products originates from the Latin language. Since I am referencing abandoned traditions, I thought to also use an old and abandoned language for the naming of the producer. CALEO is the latin word for glow and lumina is the latin word for lights.
| ABOUT Nico Maurice Schröder is an Art Director based in Essen, NRW Germany who works in the fields of visual identities, publications, products and signage systems. Nico is currently working for Meiré Meiré. | CONTACT Nico Maurice Schröder M.A. Art Direction & Graphic Design Krablerstaße 25, 45326 Essen Northrhine-Westfalia, Germany info@nico-schroeder.com Tel: +49 157 89 05 7475 @nicomauriceschroder |
