I designed a lighter for the Pantone series which was shown at the end of 2005. Originally it was a project for which I was working on the design by myself, but because the original idea had been to create the lighters in a striking range of color variations, after consulting with the client, we decided to work with Pantone. While following the traditional image of conventional disposable lighters, I am working on the style in order to place importance on how far it is possible to blur that image into a more beautiful direction. Additionally, there are certain inconveniences with disposable lighters-they don’t fit easily into ‘soft box’ cigarette packages, if the lighter goes all the way to the bottom of the package it is hard to get it out again, etc.-which I am also trying to solve through this styling. It is designed to be slim with parts from the inner mechanisms of the newest models so it will fit perfectly in the same space as two cigarettes. Because the bottom is round it is easy to insert it into the case. As the igniting button rests slightly outside of the opening, the lighter doesn’t get lost inside the case. It is possible to remove the lighter from the case with only one thumb. It is strange that this obvious inconvenience has been overlooked, but now it is possible to remove a lighter from a soft pack of cigarettes without the package collapsing. I hope that people will feel an appreciation for the design and use, and I expect that perhaps there will be even a slight increase in the number of people who use their lighters to the very end.
　
translator benjamin budde