Interview about Enlighten The Universe Candle, winner of the A' Decorative Items and Homeware Design Award 2025
The design is inspired by the emotional warmth and comfort of a lit candle, a beloved object for many. It combines the sensory experience of a candle with user functionality, emphasizing both connection and practicality. The challenge was creating a stationary design that remains flexible. Starting with three foundational elements, the design offers stability while allowing infinite expansion. This modular system invites users to personalize and evolve it, making the design adaptable, meaningful, and interactive over time.
View detailed images, specifications, and award details on A' Design Award & Competition website.
View Design DetailsThe four elements—Water, Air, Earth, and Fire—served as both inspiration and guiding framework throughout the design of Enlighten The Universe Candle. Each element shaped a different aspect of the candle, creating a balanced and immersive experience.Water inspired the smooth, flowing form that evokes calmness and continuity.Air guided the open structure, allowing light and shadows to dance freely and enhancing the sense of space.Earth influenced material choices and grounded the design with a sense of stability and tactile presence.Fire, the heart of the candle, defined the atmosphere I aimed to create—warmth, energy, and inner focus.For me, the real challenge and joy was finding harmony among these elements while staying true to my personal design philosophy: creating objects that are not only visually striking but also emotionally resonant. By combining them thoughtfully, the candle becomes more than a functional object; it becomes a sensory and symbolic experience that connects with the user on multiple levels.
The modular nature of Enlighten The Universe Candle was inspired by the idea of growth, adaptability, and personal expression. I wanted the candle to evolve with the user, allowing them to combine, expand, or adjust its components according to their space, mood, or intentions.This adaptability enhances the emotional connection because it invites participation and interaction. Users are not just passive observers; they become co-creators of their experience, choosing how the candle is arranged, how it interacts with light and shadow, and how it fits into their personal environment.By designing a system that is both flexible and stable, the candle offers a sense of empowerment and intimacy. The user feels that this object is uniquely theirs, capable of evolving with their journey, which deepens both appreciation and attachment.
The cone-shaped design of Enlighten The Universe Candle emerged from an iterative research and development process aimed at solving a common practical issue—wax dripping—without compromising aesthetics.We explored multiple forms, materials, and wick placements, testing how the wax flowed under different conditions. Through these experiments, the cone shape proved to naturally guide the melted wax inward, preventing drips while creating a visually elegant silhouette.This design solution demonstrates that functionality and beauty are not mutually exclusive. By carefully considering both user experience and visual harmony, the candle achieves a balance where practical needs enhance, rather than detract from, the overall aesthetic.
The varying heights of Enlighten The Universe Candle, ranging from twenty centimeters to seven point six three centimeters, were carefully determined using the Golden Ratio (approximately 1.618) as a guiding principle.By applying this mathematical proportion, each candle’s height relates harmoniously to the next, creating a natural rhythm and visual balance that is pleasing to the eye. This ratio is not only historically significant in art, architecture, and design, but also resonates subconsciously with the human perception of beauty and order.Functionally, the heights were chosen to optimize burning time, stability, and light diffusion, while the Golden Ratio ensures that the arrangement of the candles forms a cohesive and aesthetically harmonious ensemble. By combining mathematical precision with artistic sensibility, the candle series achieves a sense of elegance, balance, and emotional resonance for the user.
Balancing practicality with artistic expression in Enlighten The Universe Candle was a careful and iterative journey. From the beginning, I wanted the candle to be functionally reliable—stable, safe, and free from common issues like dripping wax—while simultaneously embodying a poetic and engaging visual language.Throughout the design process, every decision was evaluated against these two criteria. Materials, forms, and proportions were tested and refined multiple times to ensure that functional requirements did not compromise the aesthetic vision. Conversely, artistic intentions were always checked to see if they supported usability and user experience.The key was integration rather than compromise: the candle’s practical features, such as the cone shape and modularity, were designed to enhance its beauty, while the visual design elevated its everyday functionality. This iterative dialogue between form and function ensured that the final piece remained true to its core purpose—creating an immersive, meaningful, and harmonious experience for the user.
The magnetic connection system in Enlighten The Universe Candle was conceived as a way to redefine how users interact with candles. Traditional candle holders are static and limit creativity, while the magnetic system encourages users to engage, experiment, and personalize their arrangement.I envisioned this feature transforming the candle into a living object, where each user can decide how to expand, connect, or rearrange the modules to fit their space, mood, or intention. This interactive approach allows the candle to evolve over time, fostering a deeper emotional connection as the user becomes an active participant in shaping the experience.By integrating practicality with interactivity, the magnetic system not only enhances usability and flexibility but also turns the candle into a personal, expressive, and dynamic element within any environment.
Customer feedback played a pivotal role in shaping the innovative solutions of Enlighten The Universe Candle. During the research and prototyping phases, common issues such as wax dripping, uneven burning, and aesthetic wear were identified not only through technical tests but also by observing user interactions and listening to their experiences.By incorporating this feedback, I was able to refine the candle’s form, material choices, and structural elements, ensuring that practical problems were addressed without compromising visual elegance. For example, adjustments to the cone shape and wick placement directly responded to user concerns, while also enhancing the sculptural quality of the candle.Engaging with users throughout the process allowed me to develop solutions that are both functional and emotionally resonant, creating a product that feels intuitive, reliable, and deeply connected to the needs and desires of the people using it.
The triangular structure of Enlighten The Universe Candle was intentionally designed to symbolize fire, evoking energy, warmth, and focus, while the reflective surfaces were incorporated to represent water, creating a sense of fluidity, calm, and light interaction.These symbolic elements work together to create a multi-layered sensory experience. The triangular form draws the eye upward, guiding attention to the flame and instilling a feeling of dynamic energy. Meanwhile, the reflective surfaces capture and scatter light, producing subtle visual movement that engages the viewer and evokes the calming qualities of water.By combining these symbolic cues, the candle does more than illuminate a space—it orchestrates an emotional and sensory journey, where warmth, reflection, and visual rhythm interact to create a balanced, immersive, and meaningful experience for the user.
As the creator of Enlighten The Universe Candle, I see this design as a bridge between traditional symbolic elements and modern functionality, offering a model for future homeware design. By integrating elemental symbolism, modularity, and practical features such as drip prevention, the candle demonstrates how aesthetics and usability can coexist harmoniously.I believe this approach encourages designers to think beyond conventional boundaries, combining emotional resonance, cultural references, and technical innovation in their creations. The candle exemplifies how a product can be interactive, customizable, and visually compelling, setting a precedent for homeware items that are not only functional but also deeply meaningful and adaptable to the user’s lifestyle.Ultimately, Enlighten The Universe Candle reflects a philosophy that future homeware should engage the senses, tell a story, and provide both utility and emotional connection, inspiring a more holistic and thoughtful approach to everyday design.
With Enlighten The Universe Candle, my intention was to create more than just a decorative object—it is designed to transform a space into a sanctuary, a place of calm, focus, and reflection. I believe that decorative items play a crucial role in shaping the emotional atmosphere of living spaces, influencing mood, perception, and even daily rituals.This candle embodies that philosophy by combining sensory elements, symbolic references, and interactive features that engage the user on multiple levels. Every detail, from its form and proportions to its modularity and reflective surfaces, contributes to an environment that feels intentional, harmonious, and immersive.Through this design, I aim to demonstrate that decorative objects are not merely visual accents—they are tools for emotional well-being, personal expression, and spatial transformation, reinforcing the idea that thoughtfully designed objects can elevate everyday experiences and enrich our connection to our surroundings.
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