Out of more than 3,200 submissions from more than 49 countries, the Tunto LED Lamp won a 2009 Red Dot Design Award. This groundbreaking LED lamp has absolutely no visible switches, making it the ideal lamp for my cord-detesting husband, who is impatiently waiting for everything to become cordless, especially kitchen items such as toasters and blenders.
At least he can take comfort in Tunto’s award-winning lamp, available soon through Finnish Design Shop (April 2009).

LED Lamp. Manufactured by Tunto.

The Tunto LED Lamp works by “gentle touch,” explains Tunto founder and designer Mikko Kärkkäinen. Based in Helsinki, Tunto produces “unique interior design products,” including Skede, a chair whose back is a reused skateboard, and Kukka, a birch veneer table with a colored underside. The Tunto LED Lamp measures 300 mm H x 370 mm W x 170 mm D. Made of laminated oak or walnut, the lamp will come in various color combinations, though Tunto won’t specifiy exactly which. If the company’s other products offer a clue, then the Tunto LED Lamp might come in green, red, light blue, pink, or black–colors common to various Tunto offerings. OR, the Tunto LED Lamp might only be available in wood and black, since the simple design is a bit of a departure for Tunto. A hidden, touch-sensitive switch “gives the user a true feel of the material.” The simple arc and varied width of the lamp remind me of a boomerang, another object users like to feel in their hands (as opposed to flying rapidly at their heads).

With the new shape and simplicity of Tunto’s LED Lamp, the entire social vocabulary of the lamp changes. It can no longer be an object to be thrown at troublesome spouses or roommates during arguments, as the *Crash* and *Boom* sounds have been silenced. Perhaps instead the Tunto LED Lamp can act as a peace offering–something a repentant spouse might bring home as a token apology in place of flowers.