This week, I foresee an emphasis on paper. Just yesterday, I wrote about the Neenah Paper Company’s Soft Touch, a paper that feels like suede or talc or something in between. Then I wrote about Table Treasury, whose drawers are designed to fit certain paper sizes; and now I’m writing about the Sketch Lamp, whose head is sized to fit A4 paper. This emphasis on A2 and A4 and everything in between tells you something about the background of the designers. The Sketch Lamp, co-designed by Ninna Kapadia and Hung-Ming Chen of Hommin, does double duty as a light box: “A light table for design profession is usually big and heavy.

Sketch Lamp Designed by Ninna Kapadia and Hung-Ming Chen of Hommin.

To solve this problem, we designed a table lamp which has a lighting table feature and suitable for A4 paper. The idea is simple. Turning the lamp and putting it upon the table. Than you get a light table ready for sketch.” Despite the poetic mistranslations, Hung-Ming Chen’s explanation makes perfect sense. Available in white, yellow, and grey, Sketch Lamp reminds me of a desktop alien, given its comparatively large, boxy head and its relatively small, slender body. It looks like it will walk away, hopping along like the Pixar lamp. It differs from most twentieth-century desk lamps because of the rectangular (A4-sized, you’ll remember) light source—a lovely alternative to the triangular, fluted standard (you know those, as they come standard in your room the moment you turn 13, a right of passage). It’s obvious that both Kapadia and Chen love paper: Kapadia also produces artist books, and Chen’s other designs include the origami-like Bird Light.

While I admire paper for its tactile pleasure and historical importance, many others simply need to use it—for any of us, Sketch Lamp proves ideal. Photographers, graphic designers, calligraphers take note: you have a task lamp and a lightbox all-in-one—and Sketch Lamp looks just as good as whatever project it’s lighting up for you.