Coco Lighting Ltd
June 2019 – May 2021
Coco Lighting was a Lighting company with a focus on lighting sales, LED conversions and re-engineering projects, and original products. I was brought on to expand their small two-person design team and assist with all areas of the business. I also expanded their offering with my knowledge of rendering and graphic design, allowing forthe creation of in-house renders and installation instruction booklets.
Early on at my time at Coco Lighting, the company was looking to update their installation booklets to give them a uniform and professional look, as well as get clean white background images of each of the products. I suggested that we create accurate 3D models for the products and use those for renders and line drawings to be used in installation instructions and other places as needed. Over the next few months, I created detailed 3D models of our entire product range, I then used these models to make detailed line drawings to clearly illustrate step by step how to install each product including wiring diagrams. These same models were then used in a standard set of 6 angles for renders to give a consistent look to all our product images. Examples of the models can be seen throughout this page.
One of my regular responsibilities was to design solutions for our customers’ re-engineering enquiries. As a lighting specialist company, one of the main enquiries we regularly got was customers asking for solutions to convert their existing light fittings to LED or update them. This involved coming up with a solution that works within the constraints of the original fitting or sometimes creating a suitable extra enclosure to house any additional components while also matching the original output or to their new specifications.
In the example to the right, we had a customer approach us about spotlights they had currently using halogen bulbs that he wanted to convert to LED. To best illustrate our proposed solution, we thought it would be beneficial to model the fitting and show the new components in place. The extra work helped the client understand exactly what we were suggesting, how it would look once finished, and the considerations we took when it came to the cooling and other safety needs.
A slightly different project I was involved in at work involved us improving our factory and main office facilities. We wanted to create more room in our assembly area, create a new canteen area for the factory workers, and build a new meeting area in the main office while also improving the acoustics of the room. The MD, Kevin Cooper, asked me to 3D model the existing areas, then create altered versions based on the rough brief I was given. For the new kitchen area, it involved removing some existing walls and adding new ones. For the assembly area not only did I need to pitch a new layout but also calculate the existing workbench area and figure out the best configuration to maximise the bench area in the new design as well as make it flexible for all possible uses. The main office became two projects at once I approached my manager with an idea, while I was already building a size accurate model of the building, I could spend a little more time to get it as detailed accurate to allow us to also use the model to render products in situe as during a pandemic it was the safer option and gave us the opportunity to see how new products we were developing would look once installed. The assembly area and kitchen area have been built based on my models, and we are in the middle of proceeding with the main office project.
While at Coco Lighting, I was involved in the early stages of new product development for the company, with these projects being anywhere between initial concept and final stage prototype by the time I left. Unfortunely I was not allowed to take any images of these products due to my NDA and concern that our competitors would gain some insight into our new ranges before we were ready to launch. This is rather unfortunate because, as of 2025, Coco Lighting ceased trading. Most of my products did not make it to market, as one of my reasons for leaving was the company changing focus and strategy away from the original products. Meaning the release and development of these products was put on hold and seemingly eventually cancelled in favour of taking on more and larger Re-engineering projects.
