Sometimes, it is asserted that minimalist objects lack character. If someone around you ever comes up with that accusation, just show them the Mutatio Lamp, created by Danish designer Christian Troels.

In its closed state the lamp might be considered nondescript. At first sight it’s a black tube which doesn’t necessarily reveal its purpose. But as soon as it opens up, it not only makes apparent its functionality, but also creates the very associations so deeply embedded into our memory when it comes to bedside table lights, long reads in a cosy armchair, or even the friendly nodding lamp character of Pixar.

It’s all there. And that’s the fundamental beauty of minimalist design. Skilful conceptual designers use objects to examine feelings, rituals and connections in our daily behaviours, and they extract these ethereal notions, embedding them in pristine shapes, stripping their new designs of anything that might distract from said emotions. Christian Troels’ Mutatio Lamp goes from simple to magical and playful in one motion. That’s just beautiful.