HYDRANT Desk Light by Eric Galano
Industrial Design Eric Galano's "HYDRANT" is a simple desk light for sketching or paperwork in rooms with poor lighting. It was a project completed for his furniture and lighting studio during his fourth year at Wentworth Institute of Technology. In an open-ended with total creative liberty, Eric wanted to apply his insights gained from studying product design, and create a piece closer to a consumer product.
When I'm sketching at home I can never seem to get the right lighting at my desk. The light is always casting shadows on my work, especially when it's dark out, which makes it tough to see what I'm doing. Therefore, I wanted a light source that was positioned low and directly in front of you. I went for a simple design that didn't have a big footprint. The LED strip system I used made it easy to disperse light evenly across a wide distance without taking up much space.
- Eric Galano
The light was modeled in SolidWorks to find all the correct tolerances. The base of the light was milled on a rotary table and filled with lead to make a sturdy base. Laser-huccut pieces were inserted to create a locking mechanism for the 3D-printed body. The light shaft was dowel stock that I milled to create pockets for the LED strip and acrylic cover. The on/off switch and the shaft connector were hand lathed from aluminum. Once all the parts were made, I soldered all the wiring that is hidden in the body.
- Eric Galano
I graciously received way more positive feedback than I thought I would, which I am extremely thankful for. From designing and producing this light I learned lots of new manufacturing processes, and that creating products with lots of parts and tight tolerances takes an immense amount of effort.
- Eric Galano
About Eric Galano
Eric Galano grew up in the small town of Wrentham, Massachusetts and now based in Boston while studying Industrial Design at Wentworth Institute of Technology where he will be graduating from this August. Going to design school has taught him so much about himself and humanity, and has led to an insane amount of incredible experiences including studying in Berlin and interning in South India. In his work he try to pull influences from his vast amount of passions and interests. There is so much to experience and learn in this world, so he definitely try to never stop doing and seeing new things. He's also a music junkie, travel enthusiast, avid guitar player, aspiring illustrator, professional adventurer, and extremely average skateboarder/ surfer. He hope his design career brings him down a road that pairs profession and passions.