Moonlight
a lighting solution that is versatile, durable and fits all mirrors
Brief
Design and develop a bathroom lighting solution that fits the Roca catalogue, being able to fit any kind of mirror, and that fits the price range and target group proposed by Marketing, as well as being IP44.
Responsibilities
This project was in collaboration with Ebir. Together, Roca and Ebir, we designed and developed the product. My responsibilities included case design and development, defininition of the light, design and development of the hanging method, instructions sheet design and project management.
Roca hadn't released any lighting product for several years, so Marketing proposed to launch a versatile lighting aesthetically neutral to match with the whole economic collection of Roca, so they could include it in packs, as well as individually. Moonlight fills this gap on the catalogue, enabling the targeted customer to enlighten the bathroom.
Process
Because of confidentiality issues I won't be able to show images or internal details of the processSeveral departments and companies were involved in this project; we needed a close communication between us, Marketing and Ebir, and during later stages of the project QA, Spare Parts Department and Sales.
Since we were constrained by processes and materials, we checked development options available while designing, in order to not fully design a product that wouldn't be feasible or viable.
After a lot of research, we chose PC-ABS for the case, since this material is a thermoplastic that combines the strength and heat resistance of PC and the flexibility of ABS. We chose PC for the diffuser, and as a joint method we chose ultrasonic welding, since it doesn't leave any visible mark. ABS and PC-ABS are a perfect match for ultrasonic welding, they are highly compatible with each other.
We designed and developed the product using Solidworks, and CAD files were used to prototype (3D printing) the product and mirror support, and tested them in our gallery, where we had bathroom scenarios built for this purpose. We tested mainly 3 aspects:
- Light temperature and lumens, in order to create a comfortable atmosphere.
- Aesthetics compatibility with furniture and mirrors collections.
- Hanging options and usability of the designed support.
Once the product was approved by the relevant stakeholders, we sent the CAD drawings to Ebir so they could industrialize the product and conduct the Pilot Series.
Results
The final result was a 10W LED lighting solution that achieved IP44. IP is an international reference that indicates the level of resistance of products against external agents. IP44 guarantees that the product can be used safely in the bathroom, since it is protected against water splashes.
The product was designed to fit as many mirrors as possible, it enables screw it to the back side of wooden mirrors, screwed to the wall for irregular mirrors and it includes a support piece that can be used to hang the light without drilling at all.
Currently it can be purchased at Roca points of sale or on its website.
