Interviews with Heitor Lobo Campos

With Pluto I wanted to design task light that could have a dynamic form while still being manufactured with FDM 3d printing. My main inspiration for its silhouette were telescopes, specially due to their interesting but stable forms.

I wanted to explore the negative space in its form, to express more "character" in its design. The handle that orbits the main light shaft is one of the key features in completing its zestful outline.

For the near future it will still be sold and manufactured by Gantri, with their innovative digital manufacturing for designer lighting.

From initial sketches to final prototyping, it was designed for a good part of one year.

I decided to pursue it myself, I had many different ideas for task lights in mind, so I wanted to put them to the test. As it's clear now, Pluto was the most unique and interesting of the bunch.

It's being manufactured and sold by Gantri, a San Francisco startup focused on eco-friendly, digital manufacturing for designer lighting.

In the end of the day, interest, really. I had designed a lamp for the same company (Gantri) before. I enjoyed it a lot, very much so that I wanted to see how I could create a task light, as opposed to a wider area light.

I have many that influenced my work in general, mainly the Eames couple. But I would't be able to pinpoint a specific designer's influence on my ideas for Pluto.

I think Pluto is perfect for writers, illustrators or anyone who is particular about where-and-how their light source meets their working surface.

Pluto keeps the focus firmly on style. Its compact, aerodynamic cylinder is orbited by an elegant handle perched over an angled tripod base, making it easier to position with precision.

Pluto is named after the famous dwarf planet, since the design's form has a handle that "orbits" its main body and was inspired by telescopes.

Mostly sketching (digital and pen) for the first development of the idea, followed by CAD modeling software to further bring it to life.

Its elegant handle that orbits it's main cylinder, it makes it easier to position the light target with precision.

I worked with the engineering team at Gantri, they helped refine details, how to effectively manufacture it for 3d printing and advanced prototyping.

Pluto was designed to be manufactured with FDM on-demand 3d printing, besides using more sustainable materials, it was made to be printed in five different parts in order to curb the use of supports and other wasted materials.

There was a long process of back-and-forth on refining the final form and its angles, specially between the tripod legs and main body, that would allow it to be printed more easily and in fewer parts.

Pluto was the second light I designed for Gantri, so I had more experience when it launched, in general I saw that I received a lot more compliments from designers for it over my first lamp, and that gave me the confidence to submit it to a competition.

I was born and raised in Brasilia, Brasil. I have a Bachelors degree in Industrial Design by the University of Brasilia. I wanted to be a designer ever since I was 14, it just seemed like the perfect area for me, specially due to its multidisciplinary and creative approach.

I wanted to make things, no matter what they were, I loved creating so I got into design with still not much idea of what exactly to make. With time I fell in love with Industrial Design, specially the physical part of it, sketching, prototyping, and finally seeing your project come to life.

I chose it.

Right now I don't have much of a favorite type of design, although I do seem to gravitate towards lighting design right now.

Work hard and take any opportunity you get, it was seeking out Gantri to publish a design of mine that I got a Gold Award at the A' Design Awards. Don't skip on a chance to get your work out in the market.

Time and experience.

Good design fulfills its requirements as a project while still managing to go beyond them.

Good design has value for everyone, the client, the user, and designers.

The secret is that there is none. Just hard work and a pinch of luck.

A musician I guess, although to be quite honest I'm not nearly a good at it as I am at design.

I'm from Brasília, Brazil. I got my Bachelor's at Universidade de Brasília (UnB) as well. Since I was 14 I had decided to become a Designer, Design just seemed like a surefire way of being able to work with a plethora of diverse projects. That was specially appealing to me since I still wasn't sure of what area I wanted to work at, thankfully I finally decided on Industrial Design when I was 18.

I graduated in December of 2018, right now it's not much of a studio but just me working as a freelancer from home, but just this small time in the market has helped me grow immensely as a designer. Right now my work is mainly focused on small projects for local startups, with a special interest in digital and eco-friendly manufacturing.

For me Design is the interaction between user and product. One could say designing a typeface is dealing with the interplay between reader and the alphabet, and I believe Industrial Design is no different, we build the user-product relationship.

Charles and Ray Eames' Molded Plywood Chairs. It was one of the designs that inspired me to choose Industrial Design, it's also certainly one if not the most iconic chair of the 20th century.

My first lamp design for Gantri, Lago. I designed it in 2017, while still a student.

Anytime I'm working really, it's easy to fall into the trap of thinking you always need inspiration, but I find that diligently iterating and brainstorming ideas is much more reliable, creativity can be worked upon, not unlike a muscle.

If I were to choose one, function would obviously be the first. But I still believe a good design has to be well-balanced, beauty shouldn't justify functional limitations, and function shouldn't limit beauty.

It's hard to define, I'd say a mix of pride and relief. Proudful of designing a product that can be used and relief that I actually managed to get it to the end user.

Our responsilibities as designers are to always design with conscience of both society and environment. It's not hard to design in a bubble, not interacting with the environment you're designing for as much as you need. I reckon it's essential to always be aware of the context you're designing in.

Inspiration can come from anywhere, from visuals, sounds, stories. My main source of inspiration are the relationships between what I see, read, and hear. They all affect how I think, and therefore, how I design.

I would be lying if I said that being Brazilian doesn't influence my work, even more so in Brasilia, my first reference of aesthetics was Brazilian modernist architecture, it still is in many ways.

Just access my website: heitor.design . Or just DM me on Instagram at @heitor_lobo_campos