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Gen Bulb System


Discipline
Design
Creative coding

Tools
p5.js
Riso
Timeline
October 2024

A generative design system for a set of fine line, decorative light bulbs. The design was created in p5.js as simple black outlines and was then converted to layers of orange and yellow for Risograph printing on 11 x 17 white and grey cardstock. 

Process


I was interested in making a program that generates light bulbs, specifically thinking about specialty and antique light bulbs that often exist purely for decorative purposes. My goal was to capture the entire range from common shapes to more eccentric ones.

The three areas I focused on having variation in are the bulb shape, the shade and brightness of the light, and the filament type.




The bulb shape was created using a combination of regular and bezier curves. The regular curves don’t change too much as they are just used to connect the bezier curves to the base of the bulb, which stays the same, and help create a more natural outline. I modified the ranges of the bezier curves to play around with the size, narrowness, and curviness of the bulb. To get a larger range of shapes like I was looking for, I added a separate variable that picks whether the bulb shape will be symmetrical or asymmetrical.

The light’s glow uses both colors in varying opacity and sizes, so some appear more vibrant and yellow while others are more orange. For the filament, I created three versions and picked one at random each time a new bulb was created.