The design of the diving lamps in 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA – which the characters carry with them when diving to illuminate the waters around them – was not so easy… On the one hand, I wanted something that was reminiscent of diving gear design from the period, on the other hand, I didn’t want anything that could look like I had just drawn it off actual old diving lamps (something like the version on the top right of the sheet), because Captain Nemo for sure has his own diving lamps, according to his own design, in his own style.
So I came up with the version with the ascending spiral made of brass around the fluorescent tube. Through the rotation, the slightly Art Nouveau-like swing around the rod (that protects the light source from damage!), the lamp is reminiscent of the design of many things on board the ‘Nautilus’, Nemo’s submarine, too – where there are long, stretching metal curves and flowing movements in the design in many places of the ship (there is also some very classic design onboard, but more on that later). You could say it fits into the ‘CI’, the ‘Corporate Identity of everything Nemo-esque :).
Upcoming is a post about the weapons that the Nemonian divers take with them, on underwater hunts!
