North Tower of the Tyne Bridge
Newcastle Quayside
18-26 October 2008

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Lighten Up showcases 64 of the UK’s most innovative sustainable domestic lighting solutions. Looking beyond the bulb, Lighten Up explores the power of design to pioneer sustainable lighting – from new technologies and materials to aesthetics and interaction.
Shedding light on the stories behind the products, Lighten Up offers insight and inspiration for the next generation of lighting. Lighten Up received a great response at its launch, when it appeared as a feature at 100% Design, Earls Court, in September 2008.

Second stop on the Lighten Up tour was Newcastle’s Design Event 08 festival, where the exhibition appeared in the fabulously atmospheric North Tower of the Tyne Bridge, on Newcastle's Quayside, from 18-26 October 2008.

Lighten Up will tour throughout the UK into 2009. We welcome venue suggestions – please get in touch.

The LIGHTEN UP exhibitors are:

Alanna Cochrane Lamppot
Alexander Harris Libby
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it Pixelate 
Andreas Nydahl Sinus
Andrew Lang Product Design Frame
Anglepoise Original Anglepoise Rewire Kit
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it Non Standard Lamp
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it Papermoon
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it Shahin
Ateliero EcoPETlite
Baobab Tree Ferns
Blue Marmalade Bud
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it The Apprentice Lamp 
Charlie Davidson Studio Hasta la Pasta
Cohda Geo Standing Lamp
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it Eureka
David Gardener Pulp Lamp
David Stovell Design Shingle Lamp 
Demelza Hill Chandelier
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it 3Star
DIY Kyoto wattson 01 
Draigo Gloworm
Ed Horsford Radiance
Firewinder Company Firewinder
Giles Miller Flute Pendant
Higher Market Studio Jumper Sleeve Lampshade
Hulger Plumen
Ian Bach Våka
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it Crush
Jane Blease Design Tortoiseshell Loopy Light 
Jericho Hands The Bakelite Telephone Lamp
John Wischhusen Spore
Julia Lohmann Nesting Lamp
Kate Goldsworthy MultiSheers
Lizzie Lee Lighting Milk Shade Lamp
Lost and Found Flags to Riches
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it Stitch One
Lula Dot CAPtivate
Luminair Eco Desk Lamp
Maria Kafel-Bentkowska Walkme
MASIF Designs Tetra Lamp 
Michelle Brand Cascade Lancashire
Mixko Coron
Play Design Coca Lamp
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it Poster Lamp
Rawstudio Circa light
RE:thinkthings Swarth
Rentaro Nishimura PACK
Re-silicone Lagoon
rmkdesignoffice Lastra
Simon White Design Buttoned Up
SKK Flexi-Bulb
Startup Design Jar Jar
Stella Corrall & Sarah Thirlwell Table Light
Studiomama Solid 
Studiomold Tibia Floor Lamp 
Suck UK Sun Jar
Susan Bradley Creep Pendant Shade
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it See-Through Light    
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it d:light
Tom Raffield Ash Pendant No.1
Vamped Hula
WEmake Beryl and Friends
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it Drunk

From up-and-coming graduates to long-established companies, Lighten Up designers are exploring diverse routes towards sustainable lighting design. The approaches you’ll find include:

Focus on efficiency: new uses and looks for energy-efficient lighting technology, renewable energy sources, monitoring energy use and motivating behaviour change.

Material choices: sustainably produced natural resources, local production, reclaimed or recycled materials.

User engagement: adaptability and responsiveness, user as maker, and designs that recall past times.

Long-term thinking: products that last a lifetime, and design with future lifecycles in mind.

So get switched on. You never know, you may even enjoy your very own ‘lightbulb moment’...

Lighten Up follows in the footsteps of SIT UP: Sustainable Seating Stories, which investigated the journeys of sixteen sustainable seats from inspiration and development into production and use, demonstrating a broad range of design approaches all propelled by the belief that design can help create a better world. First exhibited at 100% Design 2007, it received the Hidden Art Award for Best Appearance During the London Design Festival, and toured to Singapore Design Festival 2007.


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Partnership opportunities

[re]design is now seeking partners committed to sustainability and innovation, to help get these bright ideas seen at high-profile venues and events across the UK. As a venue or sponsor, you’ll play a key role in bringing Lighten Up to consumers, designers and trade audiences – and benefit from our track-record in delivering exciting design events with mass appeal and creative flair.

Now more than ever, we believe design is key to making sustainable living aspirational and achievable. People are all too aware of environmental problems and are seeking functional, desirable solutions. Lighten Up proves that the quest for sustainability can inspire rather than limit creativity, and that there’s much more to sustainable lighting than changing a bulb.

[re]design invites you to partner with us to highlight brighter futures.

To find out more about partnership opportunites for Lighten Up please click here for more information or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . We look forward to discussing how we can make the most of the partnership opportunities LIGHTEN UP offers to benefit your business or organisation and the planet.

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Nice things people have said about Lighten Up and [re]design...

Lighten Up advances the message of sustainability one step further into the mindsets of the public and industry. Importantly, it doesn’t force the message or make us feel guilty for our consumption but, instead, suggests feasible and desirable alternatives that marry human nature’s creative instincts with a different approach and attitude to production. It is no longer about ‘newness’ of material, but ‘newness’ of thinking.”.
Max Fraser

“Lighten Up is the most innovative and stylish lighting project I have seen. No other initiative is showcasing sustainable lighting in the UK as effectively. The calibre and diversity of its exhibits swiftly eliminates the misconception that energy saving lighting is ugly or uninspiring."
Nancy Baynes, Energy Saving Trust

“By approaching the defining issue of our time in a grounded, personal and truly engaging way, [re]design are thought-leaders in the sustainable design arena and an organisation I always enjoy working with and learning from."
William Knight, London Design Festival

“[re]design are a great team to work with, pulling out all the stops and consistently delivering high quality events with a smile.” Karen Stone, Design Event Festival, Newcastle

“A glorious, resourceful and forward-looking approach to design."
Dr Kate Fletcher, sustainable fashion and textiles innovator

Images from top: North Tower of the Tyne Bridge; interior view of Lighten Up exhibition; visitors at Lighten Up with Cascade Lancashire by Michelle Brand, See-Through Light by Tea Un Kim, and CAPtivate by Lula Dot; Ateliero's giant EcoPETlite chandelier made from heat-pressed plastic bottles; Hula by Vamped; Circa light by Rawstudio.