Calen Knauf’s Overcast Light Mimics The Effects Of A Cloud Covering The Sun

Shortly after graduating with a degree in industrial design, Knauf won a best lighting award for his thesis project, a lamp made from copper that has no on-off switch. With experience creating custom-interior products and furniture pieces, Knauf creates lighting solutions with unusual shapes, LED panels that can be positioned in different ways, and often with no traditional switches. The ‘Overcast Light’ follows this process, and features a cylindrical aluminum base and a shade made from a transparent blended paper pulp, that allows light to shine through it. The lamp does not have a switch for dimming; to change the level of light, one must pull the leather tab up or down along the side of the cylindrical base, moving the light source closer or further away from the shade. Knauf’s domestic designs involve a more engaged interaction, which he believes enables the user to become more mindful.