Unleash Your Creativity with ‘3D Unleashed’ – The Future of Lighting Design!
LumiAdd, the pioneers of sustainable and flexible lighting, invite designers to push the boundaries of creativity in *3D Unleashed*—a groundbreaking design competition that challenges you to rethink what’s possible with 3D-printed luminaires. Open to lighting designers, interior designers, and architects, this is your chance to harness the limitless design freedom of 3D printing and craft a luminaire that’s bold, innovative, and sustainable. The winning designs will be brought to life—3D printed and assembled by LumiAdd’s expert team. And here’s the game-changer: if your design is deemed commercially viable, it could become part of LumiAdd’s product range, earning you royalties as it illuminates spaces around the world. Are you ready to redefine lighting design? This is your moment to shine!
Design Brief
We’re looking for bold, innovative, and unique luminaire concepts that showcase the design freedom of 3D printing. Whether it’s a pendant, wall light, recessed or semi-recessed fixture, desk lamp, or floor lamp, your design should embrace the limitless potential of additive manufacturing to create something truly original. While the entire luminaire doesn’t have to be 3D printed, its defining features and aesthetic elements must utilize 3D printing to push the boundaries of form, texture, and structure. Your concept can be designed around **professional light engines, ensuring both functionality and performance. For example, a floor lamp might incorporate a sleek metal stand or frame, but the key design statement should come from the 3D-printed elements. This is your chance to redefine architectural and decorative lighting—merge artistry with cutting-edge technology and create something the industry has never seen before!
Sustainability Meets Innovation – A Circular Approach to Lighting
We encourage designers to think beyond aesthetics and embrace the principles of the Circular Economy, creating luminaires that are not only visually striking but also sustainable, efficient, and future-proof. Your design should maximize the strengths of 3D printing and plant-based polymers, leveraging their lightweight, customizable, and low-waste properties to create a product that is both environmentally responsible and innovative.
3D Unleashed kicks off on March ??, giving participants eight weeks to develop and submit their visionary luminaire designs. Whether you’re an emerging talent or an industry veteran, this is your chance to showcase your creativity and technical expertise. All submissions must be entered before the deadline, after which a prestigious judging panel—comprised of experts in lighting design, architecture, and 3D printing technology—will carefully evaluate each entry. A shortlist will be announced in July. Once the shortlist has been chosen we invite independent lighting designers, architects, interior designers to vote on their favourite projects. and a winner announced in September.
Designs will be assessed on originality, aesthetic appeal, functionality, sustainability, and how effectively they leverage 3D printing. The winning concepts will be transformed from ideas into reality, manufactured by LumiAdd’s cutting-edge production process. Think big, design bold, and make your mark on the future of lighting!
Eligibility & Key Dates – 3D Unleashed Competition
To be eligible for the 3D Unleashed competition, luminaire designs must be original and developed specifically for this contest. Designs should align with sustainability principles, embrace the creative potential of 3D printing, and be functional for real-world application.
Important Dates:
- Entry Deadline: May ?? 2024 (Eight weeks from launch)
- Judging Panel Shortlisting: June 2025
- Voting Opens: July 2024 (Independent lighting designers, architects, and interior designers will vote on their favorite projects)
- Winner Announcement: September 2025
Who Can Enter?
The competition is exclusively open to:
- Lighting Designers
- Interior Designers
- Architects
Each participant may submit one entry, and designs must comply with the 3D printing guidelines provided by LumiAdd.
Submission Requirements
To ensure a strong and compelling entry, each submission must include:
- A short written design narrative explaining the concept, inspiration, and how it utilises 3D printing.
- A minimum of 3 and a maximum of 10 high-resolution images (JPEG format, max file size 10MB).
- Sketches, technical drawings or renderings demonstrating form, structure, and material use.
- 3D models are not obligatory but encouraged to help evaluate ease of printing.
Entry Fee & Benefits
- Free to Enter! LumiAdd is committed to supporting design innovation and sustainability, making this competition accessible to all eligible participants.
The Prize – Bringing Your Design to Life
Winning designs will be 3D printed and assembled by LumiAdd, showcasing how additive manufacturing can revolutionise lighting design. If a concept is deemed commercially viable, LumiAdd may offer the designer an opportunity to have their luminaire added to its product range, with royalties paid for every unit sold.
This is your opportunity to make your mark on the future of lighting design—impress the judges, capture the industry’s attention, and see your creation come to life!
3D Printing Guidelines
To ensure successful 3D printing, designs must be self-supporting and printable without support material. Think of it like this: if you cut a vertical section through any part of your luminaire, there should be no angles greater than 45 degrees between the flat build plate and the part walls—this prevents printing issues and ensures clean, high-quality results (see diagram below). Complex forms can be achieved by designing modular components that assemble together, allowing for larger and more intricate designs while maintaining printability. Large, smooth threads (similar to those on an aluminum bottle) can be effectively printed to join parts, while snap-fit connections also work well for secure and tool-free assembly. Additionally, metal nut inserts can be incorporated to provide strong fixings and allow for durable mechanical connections.
Materials
LumiAdd utilises plant-based polymers that offer both sustainability and aesthetic versatility. Designers should consider material behaviour when developing their concepts to achieve the desired lighting effect. Lighter colours tend to glow when positioned near the light source, while darker colours are more opaque, clear and opal are also available, bear in mind clear still has the layer lines that distorts light as it passes through, so its not ‘glass’ clear. Materials that incorporate reclaimed waste are available, for example, oyster/scallop shells, spent beer grains, used coffee grounds and chocolate production waste. These materials are still predominantly plant polymer with a small amount of the waste to give colour and texture (and smell when it prints!). 180 classic RAL colours are available. Black/grey matte is also possible. Textured materials that look like wood or stone are also available. We source most of our material from ColorFabb, any of the ‘PLA’ materials can be used.
Size
Luminaires to be printed in a single piece can be up to 350 x 350 x 350mm (exceptions can be made for 3 additional small components). Modular luminaires that are to be printed in multiple pieces must have parts that do not exceed 210 x 210 x 210mm.
Lets get creative!
We would love you to enter this competition, If you would like to do so please fill in the following form.