Industrial Design Student Wins 1st Place in International Lighting Competition

Industrial design senior Richard Stone won first place and the $5,000 prize in Luflex’s LG OLED Design Competition, besting more than 650 students and professionals from around the world. Seven renowned designers and art directors selected the winners.

The competition tasked competitors with incorporating organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) into their designs. Unlike LEDs, which are a point light source, OLEDs are very thin, flat surfaces that light evenly across the entire surface, explained Lyn Godley, associate professor of industrial design at Jefferson (Philadelphia University + Thomas Jefferson University). They can be rigid or flexible, opaque or clear, offering new applications for lighting design.

Stone’s “Interwoven Luminance” project was inspired by textiles and a simple weave pattern that highlights OLED’s flexibility.

“The woven pattern creates a three-dimensional form that only an OLED could deliver while providing uniform illumination,” he said. “Developing a modular solution through which individual units can attach together allows the flexibility of Interwoven Luminance to be implemented in multiple spaces. This design was an accumulation of everything I have learned in my three and a half years at Jefferson.”

Stone, who’s concentrating in lighting design, developed the project in the University’s new luminaire design course taught by Godley.

“This is a huge win for our student and for what it says about the new curriculum in lighting design at Jefferson,” Godley said.

In addition to the $5,000 prize, Stone will receive travel expenses to attend the International Light + Building conference in Frankfurt, Germany, in March. Here, he will exhibit his design, with manufacturing of the mock-up supported by LG, plus receive a 3 percent royalty upon production.