Box Clever, the San Francisco design firm that created the Fade Task Lamp, is obsessed with detail. Just take a look at its configurations for the table-top light: Everything from the patterns cut into the hardware to the font used on its packaging are deliberate choices. Why so much work for just a lamp? Probably because the Fade Task Lamp isn't just a lamp, it's a functional piece of furniture that happens to be beautiful, and actually fun to use. Yes, a lamp that's fun to use. The LED array is perched at the end of an articulated arm you can bend without any cranking or prodding. A thick metal ribbon serves as the structural backbone. It's flexible, so you can bend and reposition the arm with a smooth, gliding action. Once you find a position you like, magnets hidden inside the arm's body hold it in place. The base has a control that lets you not only dim or brighten the light, but also change hues, just by sliding around a toggle on the base. Of course, such attention to detail and build quality translates into dollar signs!
It's beautiful. The Fade Task Lamp has a super simple, utilitarian design, which makes the fact that this lamp has "features" even better. On the base, there's an x-y controller that you push around with one finger to change the temperature of the light from warm to cool, and the strength from dim to bright. It's surprisingly pleasing, much more so than twisting a sticky knob. Seriously: You think pushing a small circle around inside of a bigger circle won't be that fun, but watching it transform the light in the room is hypnotizing. The armature has a ton of movement, so you can angle the lamp however you want, for whatever surface you put it on. And it's not so big that it looks ridiculous on a desk, but not so small that if you had it totally vertical it couldn't sit on the floor. Oh, and there's a USB port in the base for charging a mobile device, which is the clincher.
$250 is a lot to spend on a lamp that doesn't take up a corner of your home. Sure, like I said, if it's totally vertical, the lamp could take residence on your floor. But then, you lose the purpose of the base's swivel function to dim and brighten and change warmth. The lamp's only con is it's fairly high price—but anyone willing to spend a little extra on the ultimate desk companion will be happy to spend it.
8/10 - There's a higher end version of everything, right? Even lamps. This is that lamp. You will love lamp.
