As desk lampServes in most households what is just there on a small lamp. Each table lamp can be converted into a desk lamp if it is on the desk writing deskis placed. This is not necessarily meaningful, because the desk lamp fulfills a very specific purpose: It should immerse the desk, especially the area on which books and papers were embedded, in a uniform, but not dazzling light. A decorative lamp or a dessert lamp do not do that. They make light, but different.

No spotlights, but stray light

One feature that characterizes the desk is the kind of light that is created. It should not be spread over the entire room, but rather directed to the desk (especially the plate). It must not be focused on one point, but must cover the entire plate. It should come from the top so that writing hands do not throw any disturbing shadows on the paper. At the same time, the lamp must be designed so that it does not dazzle. Because desk lamps are often designed with the light on face height because of their design, the bulbs should be lightly covered with translucent but dimming material. This is especially important for children, because they can rarely associate the funny headache when working at the desk a specific cause.

Mild light, no bright light

There are always desk lamps that turn the desk into an operating table. The bright, white-blue light, however, is so strongly reflected by paper that, after a brief read, the letters in front of the eyes blur. Reasonable, concentrated work is not possible with such a lamp. This also applies to the variant floodlight system: many lampstogether are not necessarily better. Ideal for pleasant work are light sources that emit light in a slightly yellowish, warm quality. This light is not reflected so much by white paper, but still provides a neat contrast between the font and the background. This actually makes working at the desk easier. Colored bulbs are only partially suitable, a more natural light in yellowish-yellow or yellow-orange spectrum is better.

For folding, twisting, dimming and tinkering

The desk lamp with a firm foot and fixed leg has long been obsolete. Much more useful are lamps that can be aligned as needed. Usually these have a large clip instead of a foot, which is attached to the desk card, and the leg is replaced by a flexible wire tube. This means that the light source sitting at the other end can really be brought to any height above the desk top, can be rotated, moved horizontally and set individually. Lamps with one or more joints in the arm are similarly flexible. Modern desk lamps for children should also be adjustable in brightness. Because in a bright afternoon you need a different light on the desk than in the evening just before bedtime, when it is already dim in the room or even dark. Whether the desk lamp can be steplessly dimmed or has only two or three brightness levels is a matter of taste. However, children’s lamps should have as few buttons and switches as they possibly can because they are tempting to play and distract from what should actually be happening at the desk: learning.

Child-friendly design is important

No child likes a desk lamp made of steel and glass, transforming the desk into a sober treasurer. Children should like to spend their time at the desk, motivating a child-friendly design. There is nothing wrong with the fact that the desk lamp is simply red – but it does not speak against a desk lamp in the form of a toucan, in which the light source sits in the foldable beak. There are characters from Disney as well as bright ones footballs, Robots, fairy lights and more. As long as the lamp fulfills its purpose and illuminates the desk properly, the design may have failed. By the way, desk lamps should also be energy efficient and not get hot when in use.