Industrial designer Ross Lovegrove is currently working on a new household lighting structure using organic light-emitting diodes in conjunction with the OLED business division of an LG company, to be introduced next year.

The acclaimed Welsh designer, who recently came to Seoul to speak at the Herald Design Forum 2016, said he was working with LG’s lighting division chief to design a new lighting installation using OLEDs. The installation will be unveiled at the Salone del Mobile 2017, an interior design fair also known as Milan Design Week, he said.

"I’m working with LG’s OLED division, their lighting division, with the president. They recently came to see me in London to do an installation in Milan for the Salone, the design fair scheduled for next April," Lovegrove said in an interview with The Korea Herald.

The 58-year-old industrial designer is best known for his fluid, futuristic designs inspired by forms from nature. He rose to fame for designing the Sony Walkman and Apple’s iMac computers in the 1980s, and has since worked with multiple major brands such as Airbus Industries, Peugeot and Huawei. 

Lovegrove is currently working on several projects with diverse European companies.

OLEDs are a relatively new light source which are more advanced than conventional light-emitting diodes, or LEDs, that are widely used today. For example they can be used to directly power a screen, whereas LEDs are used as a backlight to light up liquid crystal particles on an LCD screen.

OLED display panels produced by firms like LG Display and Samsung Display are currently used to build thin, high-end smartphones and televisions with sharper images and colors than LCD televisions that utilize LEDs for backlighting.

In working with LG, Lovegrove said he is looking to design an impressive yet affordable OLED light for use inside the home, adding that he has yet to finalize a detailed design plan for his upcoming piece.

“One of the problems with OLED technology is that it’s very expensive,” Lovegrove said. “(Based on the experience I have with lighting) I’m hoping to develop some really cool projects that people want to buy, so that I can help their OLED division grow.”

Looking ahead, Lovegrove also expressed interest in working with LG on its OLED TVs in the future.

“I can’t say what I’ll do, but I’d love to design televisions (for LG),” he said, noting that the LG president he is working with is connected to the tech firm’s TV division.

As for whether such a project was underway, Lovegrove said, “No, because it’s a new relationship and I don’t want to go too far. It’s my first relationship with LG which is nice.”

LG Electronics is currently the world’s leading producer of premium OLED televisions which are thinner and more energy efficient compared to conventional LCD TVs as they utilize differing display panels.

For now, Lovegrove appears highly enthusiastic about partnering with LG. “I’m currently working for LG because LG does not stand for Lucky Goldstar. It stands for ‘Love Grove,’” he jokingly said during the interview.  

By Sohn Ji-young (jys@heraldcorp.com)