Bioluminescence in Product Design

Abstract

Integrating living organisms in design could offer alternative and more sustainable ways of producing and using products. The use of bioluminescent organisms in design is a relatively new and unknown subject. Because of this, interested designers have a lot of homework to do before starting the actual design process. Successfully changing the organisms habitat from nature to a user’s home and provoking the desired luminescence depends on specific biological and environmental requirements. The aim of this graduation project is to provide interested designers with guidelines on the cultivation and perpetuation of bioluminescent organisms when integrated into a consumer product. The first step is to gather information on two bioluminescent organisms, P. fusiformis and P. phosphoreum, in an extensive literature research. This results in design insights which compare both organisms on the challenges and potential when integrated in a consumer product. The second step continues with the most promising organism, P. phosphoreum. This organism is used within experiments further researching the bioluminescent and perpetuation characteristics, relating them to usage and storage possibilities. The experiment results are translated into design insights. The third step is to combine the design insights from both the literature research and the conducted experiments into guidelines which will help and inspire interested designers in the creation of products with integrated bioluminescent organisms. The guidelines are applied within a future scenario which will act as an example on how P. phosphoreum could be integrated within a design.