Historically lightbulb design has not been a fast-moving field. The same shapes have dominated the market for decades – largely of necessity, as filament technology has restricted the  possibilities for formal variation. Today, however, advances in flexible-filament LED bulbs are enabling designers to pursue radical new directions and develop previously impossible forms – and BEEM is the world’s first brand to indulge this tech-enabled creativity.
Co-created by award-winning product and industrial designer Samuel Wilkinson, BEEM’s first collection is a new family of LED lamps unlike anything else on the market – graphic, playful and strikingly contemporary. After the brand’s debut at Milan Design Week in April and the new range’s appearance in an installation at designjunction during last month’s London Design Festival, the BEEM bulb collection will be exclusively available to the public from The Conran Shop‘s London outlets from 24 October. BEEM is a collaboration between Samuel Wilkinson – designer of the now-iconic Plumen 001 low-energy bulb – and LED-lighting specialists Chris Stimson and Bujar Shkodra, founders of well-lit, which they set up in order to break the stranglehold of big companies that were flooding the market with poor-quality, overpriced LED bulbs. With a shared desire to revolutionise lightbulb design, the trio first came together in 2016. Now, two years later, their revolution is well underway. ‘We fiercely want to challenge what existed (and still exists) in our industry and the perceptions of what’s possible in terms of design and performance.’ – Chris Stimson, co-founder, BEEM The first lamps in the collection – SMILE and CURLI – feature the latest soft-filament LED technology, enabling them to emit bright, warm light for up to 25,000 hours, while minimising energy use. Equally suited to domestic and commercial environments such as bars or cafés, both are designed to be hung either singly or configured in groups – thanks to an innovative rotating mechanism hidden inside, the lamps can be easily adjusted to line up with surrounding bulbs. • SMILE is a distinct, graphic and modern glass bar of light fitted with a flexible filament attached to a ceramic base. Three shapes are available: a U shape (01), a smile-like upward curve (02) and a straight line (03).
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