Lumio lamp is disguised as a book

It looks like a book, but when you open its cover, Lumio glows with ambient LED light.

There are two meanings for illumination: light and knowledge. As such, a lamp that looks like a book seems particularly apropos — and Lumio by architect and industrial designer Max Gunawan is immediately appealing.

When you open its cover, a concertina crafted to resemble the pages acts as a filter for the bright LEDs inside.

It's not just a pretty face, though. Like a book, it's portable, its lithium-ion rechargeable with a discreet charging port hidden in the spine; and because it's lit with LEDs, its power consumption is low, lasting up to eight hours. Neodymium magnets in the cover mean you can stick it to metal surfaces, and the wooden cover is flexible for a variety of configurations.

Gunawan lists several applications for its use:

• Table lamp

• Wall sconce

• Ceiling pendant

• Task lighting

• Accent light

• Outdoor lighting

• Emergency light

It's not the first concept of its kind that we've seen — Book Lamp by Myung-Seo Kang surfaced in 2010 — but it never made production, as far as we can ascertain.

Of the idea, Gunawan said:

Lumio started as an exploration to design a modular home that can fold flat and fit into a compact car. During the design development, I quickly realised that it will take a lot of capital (that I don't have) to build working prototypes for the folding house. During this period, I built a few folding architectural models that I carry around in my sketchbook.

When I decided to pivot and translate the concept into a folding lamp, it was a natural progression to use the form of the sketchbook as a way to package the lamp. That's how Lumio was born.

The Kickstarter is already fully funded, so if you want one, nip on over and place an order. One Lumio will set you back US$95, and will ship in September this year.