• Design Jobs
  • Firms
  • Awards
  • Conference
e

Core77

Sign In / Join Now;
e
  • Topics
    • Product Design
    • Process
    • Technology
    • Lifestyle
    • Business
    • Materials
    • News
    • Furniture
    • Tools
    • Transportation
    • Education
    • Footwear
    • Impact
    • Reference
    • Video
  • Features
    • Features
    • Yo! C77 Sketch
    • Photo Galleries
    • Bizarre Inventions
    • Design Calendar
    • Weekly Maker's Roundup
    • DiResta's Cut
    • Industrial Design Tips
    • Hand Tool School
    • Tools & Craft
    • Design Experience that Matters
  • Shopping Guide
  • Projects
    • Projects
    • Firm Projects
    • Reader Projects
  • Forums
    • Forums
    • General Discussion
    • Students & Schools
    • Design Employment
    • Sketching
    • Software & Technology
    • All Forums
  • About Us
    • About Us
    • About
    • Contact
    • Advertise

The Story of the Modern Desk Lamp, Part 3: The Anglepoise Grows (Literally)

By Rain Noe - Dec 22, 2011

  • Join Core77 Today
  • Submit your projects for publication
  • }Favorite This
  • Y1
  • m1
  • U1
  • X1
  • H1

Luxo did well out of the licensing arrangement for the Anglepoise lamp, selling an estimated 25 million L-1s and branching out into the full-fledged lighting company they are today.

John and Simon Terry, the current generation of Terrys to run the company their great-grandfather founded, struggled up to the millennium, constrained by their Commonwealth-only licensing deal mentioned in Part 2. In 1975 Terry Lighting had been spun off as its own company separate from the Terrys' springs business. In the early 2000s, as sales sank to just 50,000 a year, the Terrys brought in industrial designer Kenneth Grange to revamp the Anglepoise line. Grange created the more modernized Type 3, seen below, which met with acclaim and sales success. The company is now called Anglepoise.

In 2004 a Giant Anglepoise, like the one seen up top, was produced as a one-off for the Roald Dahl Museum and Story Centre. Tim Burton then famously purchased a second one created for a charity auction. Following that, demands started coming in, and the Giant went into production.In 2009, to celebrate their 75th anniversary, Anglepoise re-released the original model 1227 designed by George Carwardine and shown in Part 1.

The Anglepoise has been knocked off by countless manufacturers over the decades, and today you can walk into any lamp store and find a variant strikingly similar to what Carwardine first invented.

One thing that Carwardine probably never imagined was that his design would not only change desk lamps forever, but that they would one day achieve mascot status and be visually associated with a revolution in computer processing. Stay tuned.

The Story of the Modern Desk Lamp:
» Part 1: Its Invention was Based on British Car Suspensions
» Part 2: Piggybacking Across the North Sea with Sewing Machines
» Part 3: The Anglepoise Grows (Literally)
» Part 4: Pixar and Luxo, Jr.

The latest design news, jobs & events.
Straight to you every other week.

Join over 300,000 designers who stay up-to-date with the Core77 newsletter...

Subscribe

Test it out; it only takes a single click to unsubscribe

  • }Favorite This
  • Y1
  • m1
  • U1
  • X1
  • H1
  • Object Culture
  • Design Business
  • Lighting

Rain Noe

Rain Noe is a writer and industrial designer based in New York City.

Comments

Core77's Design Directory

View all Design Firms »

Hot On Coroflot

DAINESE - Torque D1: Design Story ( Designer: 2015 ) David Sheridan
Candela Tables Jorge Diego Etienne

Recent Posts

  • Husqvarna's Crazy "Backpack Chainsaw"

    By Rain Noe - a day ago

  • Plastic Bags are Recyclable, So Why Can't We Throw Them In Recycling Bins? PBS Explains

    By Rain Noe - a day ago

  • This Japanese Version of a Nail File is Cylindrical (and Of Course, Multifunctional)

    By Rain Noe - a day ago

  • SmartBowl: Homeware from Hardware

    By Joshua Skirtich - 4 days ago

Continued Reading
  • Object Culture

    By Rain Noe - Dec 22, 2011

    The Story of the Modern Desk Lamp, Part 2: Piggybacking Across the North Sea with Sewing Machines

    One of the many things the Anglepoise lamp's adjustable arm was good for was sewing. With a sewing machine you really needed to get light down by the needle, but it would also be helpful to occasionally get the light out of the way to manipulate the fabric. So in...

  • Object Culture

    By Rain Noe - Dec 22, 2011

    Michiel Cornelissen's RP'd Money Necklace

    On Showtime's excellent Homeland, a team of CIA agents attempt to determine how a terrorist cell is moving money around on U.S. soil. When their observation of digital banking transactions goes nowhere, their attention turns to a physical object: An extraordinarily expensive necklace stolen in a suspicious robbery. "A nomadic...

  • Object Culture

    By Ray Hu - Dec 21, 2011

    DIY in the Digital Age: Samuel Bernier's "Project RE_"

    Originally hailing from the Quebec countryside, Samuel Bernier has found his calling at the University of Montreal's product design program, where he has launched "Project RE_" with the blessing of his thesis supervisor Louis-Philippe Pratte. It turns out that Bernier's collaboration with Udi Rimon for ENSCI Les Atelier's SupraDesign project...

  • Object Culture
    3 Comments

    By Rain Noe - Dec 21, 2011

    The Story of the Modern Desk Lamp, Part 1: Its Invention was Based on British Car Suspensions

    When people get bright ideas a light bulb pops up over their head. For British designer George Carwardine, that light bulb was followed by a spring.Throughout the 1920s inventors tinkered with articulating-arm lamps, experimenting with parallelogram arm structures and counterweights. None of them really caught on until Carwardine, a UK-based...

K

{

Welcome

  • YSign In with Facebook
  • mSign In with Twitter
  • USign In with Linkedin
OR
  • jSign In with Core77 Account
  1. Forgot password?
  • Cancel

Don't have an account? Join Now

K

{

Welcome

Create a Core77 Account

  • YJoin Now with Facebook
  • mJoin Now with Twitter
  • UJoin Now with Linkedin
OR
  • jJoin Now with Email
  • Cancel

Already have an account? Sign In

By creating a Core77 account you confirm that you accept the Terms of Use

K

Reset Password

Please enter your email and we will send an email to reset your password.

  • Cancel
Today On the Core77 Network...
  • ]Design Jobs

    • Industrial Designer (Full-Time)

      Fetch for Pets! New York, New York
    • UX Designer to Create Bluetooth Product APP

      Ideal Living Los Angeles, California
    • Digital Producer

      Cactus Denver, Colorado
    • Project Manager

      Muse and Company, Inc. Oakland, California
    • Post A Job
    • View All Jobs
  • ]Design Directory

    View other design services:

    • *Hot On Coroflot

      • Jumpstart Charging Systems

        Ryan Paul
      • Beverage Dispenser

        Jonathan Smith
    •  

      • ET TOY WORK

        Rurik Tyler
      • ECCO Biom Venture TR

        Ventsislav Nikolov
    • © 2019 Core77, Inc. All rights reserved.
    • Terms
    • Privacy Policy
    • Contact
    • Advertise
    • About
    • )
    • m
    • Y
    • '
    • S
    • © 2019 Core77, Inc. All rights reserved.
    Advertise Here