IDC’s Bright Design Produces Commuter Bike Light

International product design and development company, IDC (Industrial Design Consultancy), has built on its recent lighting project successes to a create a ground breaking new bicycle light, the Eagle 600, designed with the needs of commuting cyclists in mind.

Working for Magicshine, IDC was briefed to develop a bicycle light suitable for road cycling, but which incorporated the specific requirements of commuters. With this in mind, user research and understanding was an essential part of creating the right design.

Magicshine wanted to produce a bicycle light that used the latest technology to bring convenience to commuters. In researching user needs, IDC found that a core benefit to commuters would be the ability to see battery life as a real time indicator of how much power was left. Focusing on this need, IDC developed a clever battery interface that was able to display the actual time left with power. Using an OLED display, the Eagle 600 was designed to instantly recalculate the usage time when power outputs were altered between light beams.

Another attractive feature for commuters was the light’s capability to display power levels when charging, so the user would know how long to charge for. Conventional bike lights do not provide this information, so users have to wait until the battery is fully charged to be sure the battery will last the duration of a ride. For further convenience the internal battery can be recharged by plugging into a USB.

Size was important and the light was designed to be extremely compact, rugged and waterproof, as well as easily adjustable and quick to fit and release. IDC’s designers focused on aesthetics and cleverly combined sleek, compact styling with safety elements. Taking inspiration from its name, the Eagle 600 was visually styled with side lights which resembled eagles’ eyes, to provide enhanced side visibility in traffic. The main body of the device was made by a combination of die casting and moulding and was gasket sealed to ensure a tight and waterproof finish. Sleek metal cooling fins were subtly added to the device, which also accentuated the eagle styling of the device.

When launched, the Eagle 600 was the first light to offer high beam and dipped beam from separate Cree LEDs, which provide 600 Lumens of light. For simplicity, commuters can control the variable beam pattern and brightness with the use of just one button.

IDC’s product enabled Magicshine to step into the niche commuting market with a market-leading design for commuting cyclists around the globe.