Kaspa the ghost light glows in the dark and provides a self dimming lightsource without the use of electricity. Its a fun and quirky item with a social function and a genuine sustainability brought about through the emotional connection between product and user leading to longer employment of product. It is a one piece item that requires minimal processing in manufacture, simple and useful! Vacuum formed over a aluminium resin tool and fitted in the same way as a standard lampshade on a ceiling fitting, or provided with a fitting to the back of the product as a tablelamp, the product charges off the lightsource using phosphor and then when the light is switched off it emits a green or blue glow for up to an hour.

 

Kaspa is designed for the user to adopt and depend on for safety and comfort as a companion. Its about bringing personality to the products we use day to day so that inanimate objects come to life and are valued by the user. This product is about extending the working life of the product so that it is treasured and valued and passed through generations... To be REUSED every night and for years to come... It is also about not needing electricity use due to the fact that it glows in the dark for up to an hour, REDUCING the need for power and energy consumption.... It then slowly dims slowly to black - perfect to assist a child in conserving his / her own energy and encouraging peaceful sleep and increased vitality.

 

Phosphor (the material which makes it glow without electricity) is a smart material. Ilsa has always been interested in smart materials and their unique ability to create a more substantial output from a minimal input if applied in the right context, this ethos was developed from Ilsas passion for responsible and meaningful product design. At university in 2003 Ilsa experimented with two smart materials, thermochromic and phosphorescent pigment and applied them in a lighting context to see the extent to which she could communicate elements of her design philosophy through products which were “smart” and could respond to human interaction in a visual way so that a duality of function was achieved from minimal material input, the outcomes being a series of products which worked around lightsources to make them more usable and also informative or interactive. The intention was to increase the value that everyday people place upon the products they use on a day to day basis and to encourage them to make alternative choices by opting to purchase a product which represented their synergy with the desire to be more sustainable as consumers. The idea with these early experiments was to add conceptual value to lighting products so that they were not perceived as merely inanimate objects but rathermore as emotive communicators or food for thought getting people to question their own relationship with the products they buy, what the products really mean to them and what they represent to others. Ilsas line of thinking circled around the assumption that if you can get consumers to buy products which are representative of sustainable choice and which can retain value in terms of life cycle through building a relationship and encouraging longer term use, then others would follow suit and make better choices when considering product purchases.

 

In short – Ilsa used responsive materials to make people respond to issues concerning their personal values through the design of the everyday products they interact with.

 

A two year focused incubation period in Arena studios led to the design of the first version of KASPA (then called Casper) in spring 2007. At the time Ilsa was not in business and was simply experimenting with materials for potential future lighting products which she thought she could establish a business with in the future.

 

Casper was developed with various material tests and early test versions were produced in both plastic and fabric. The product has now evolved and is made using three processes and two materials. Ilsa plans to reduce this further with the mass market version of Kaspa (currently in development which will employ recycled materials, just one process in production to produce a recycles composite form.