While the world may view designers as people there to make communities look better, city-born Anirudha Surabhi Rao has a different approach. “To make something simple is more difficult than making something complex. A lot of Indians think design is just about making things look pretty, but for me it’s a problem solving process,” says Anirudha. And that principle reflects in his work too, with his latest design being Lumineer — a discreet, yet functional headlamp for cycles.
Fitting directly into the stem of the handlebar, the Lumineer is a simple and cost-effective solution for cyclists looking to for a lamp that doesn’t get in the way of your riding or the bike’s looks.
“If you’re going down the road to the grocery store in the evening, you need to attach your bike light and then take it off... it’s a huge pain. So I’ve just integrated the light into the stem itself... there are no plastic parts dangling at the top or anything,” explains Anirudha.
The lamp features a 300 lumen-strong bulb and a rechargeable unit at the bottom of the lamp which you can charge through your computer’s USB.
Anirudha, who finished his schooling from Hyderabad Public School in the city, says he always had an eye for design, but with a difference.
“Unlike fashion design, where it’s mostly about looks and then your function if it exists exists, for me it’s about solving a problem first and then making it look good,” says Anirudha, who graduated from Nift in Delhi before moving to Italy to work with Ferrari for a year, followed by dual-design degrees from London’s Royal College of Arts and Imperial College.
The idea for the lamp came to him while he was in London, but couldn’t work on it because of a Master’s project that eventually went on to become a best-selling technology — the world’s strongest helmet. “I actually took a woodpecker’s skull and cut it open. The beak has this very interesting corrugated structure, so I mimicked it with paper and created something that can absorb three times the energy that any other helmet can on the planet,” explains Anirudha.
After moving to San Diego in the US and eventually selling his company, he moved back to the city last year and founded Quolt, that designed the Lumineer. The lamp will be crowd funded through it’s campaign on Kickstarter and will be delivered to those who want one by August this year.
