Mira Zimmerman of ESBL virtually interviewed Taskshade Co-Founder, Designer, and former ESBL student Peter Van Liefde to find out what’s going on with the innovative personal sunshade project.
Fresh with ideas from the Wanted Design conference in New York, an “international platform for emerging designers that showcases prototypes of furniture, home accessories, and lighting”, Peter tells me that Taskshade is going to have some new design options (Wanted Design, Launch Pad).
Taskshade started as a project in the Energy Studies in Buildings Laboratory that needed help materializing, and Peter, as a product design student, was up to the task. Taskshade is a small, desk-friendly sunshade that promises “sunlight in your space, not in your face”. Peter describes it as a solution for your daily workspace- at home or at the office.
We know that people need natural light, and many offices are built with this in mind, but the sun glare on a digital screen and in people’s eyes means that shades are often pulled to cover the windows. When this happens, natural light, access to view and even fresh air are all blocked, thus increasing energy use and separating us from the healthful aspects of windows. Taskshade addresses this problem.
“Instead of pulling down the blinds, your Taskshade protects you from the sun glare. There’s been a lot of research done on healthy workspaces, we need sun in our workspace, it helps with our circadian rhythms, but then there’s all this sun glare on screens. Eliminating sun glare decreases eye fatigue and eye strain. We want to mold the workspace with the natural environment” (Van Liefde, Peter).
I ask Peter what his original design inspiration was.
Taskshade is a simple, portable oval-shaped shade on an adjustable stand. Peter describes his design inspiration as a process of simplification. “Products often overcomplicate the mechanisms of solving a particular problem. Reducing waste and being efficient with materials was a huge part of the design. I wanted to manipulate light with translucency and color, specifically using resin and acrylic.”
Now, after Wanted Design, Peter tells me that he’s been inspired to refine the design of Taskshade, “evolving and improving” it, but was tight-lipped about the changes to be made to the product. We will just have to wait and see.
Peter tells me that “Wanted Design propelled us forward, not only making connections and meeting those people, but my design inspirations have flourished, because I got to see what the future of design is.”
From our Eugene lab all the way to New York, we are excited to see how Taskshade continues to get out into the world, keeping our spaces shaded.
Learn more about Taskshade here.