My O-Designer Story
Written by Andreas Isenberg, an O-Designer from the Olight Community
At the end of 2023, my journey as an O-Designer began. Since then, I’ve participated in almost every O-Designer competition—nearly every time making it into the community voting stage. Those successes, the feedback, and my very first O-Designer coins all motivated me to keep going.
Through the O-Designer contests, I got to know the community much better. That’s also how I met Benny, one of the most successful O-Designers out there. I was thrilled about that, and over the following months he supported me many times and stood by my side. Thank you for that!
In May 2025, it finally happened: my design not only made it into the voting but actually reached first place! The positive feedback and love I received from the community were incredible and deeply humbling.
But let’s take a step back…
The task for the Q2 O-Designer competition was to create a cohesive design for three Olight flashlights: the Arkfeld Pro, the Oclip Pro, and the Baton 4 Kit.
I developed several concepts and ideas, but one of them stood out — a stealth bomber design. The sheer power and advanced technology of stealth bombers like the B-2 Spirit have always fascinated me. A certain connection to Olight’s identity — power and modern technology — ultimately convinced me to go with that concept.
Next, I started brainstorming and created a moodboard: textures, images, line structures — everything had to fit into a flashlight design.
From the start, it was clear: the design couldn’t be colorful. No accent colors on the parts that are usually bright. Instead, only the stealth bomber–typical bluish-gray tones. The usual accent parts would become black or dark gray.
Once the base color was set, I focused on the details. Looking closely at stealth bombers and the patterns on my moodboard, I decided the design needed those distinctive lines and dot patterns. After a few trials, the first design for the Arkfeld Pro was ready. It was still asymmetric at that stage. When I noticed how well people reacted to it, I got inspired to adapt the design for the Arkfeld Ultra. Its sharp edges fit my concept perfectly.
With the Ultra version, I decided to make the design symmetrical. To match the symmetry and geometric line work, I added a small B-2 Spirit silhouette at the bottom later.
Then came the versions for the Oclip Pro and the Baton 4. Once everything was finished, I added some final touches and created a background to present the design properly.
And then suddenly — everything took off. Hundreds of likes and comments, almost all positive. The feedback was overwhelming! I’m still incredibly thankful to the community for all that support. Even before the voting ended, it became clear that I might actually win my very first O-Designer contest. I was so excited and checked the votes and comments constantly.
In the end — it really happened: 1st place.
But that was far from the end of the story.
Suddenly, I got a message from Yolanda. She sent me a photo of a prototype Oclip in my design! I was speechless — completely overwhelmed. Was my design really going into production? I could hardly believe it and felt deeply honored and grateful.
After that, there were many more messages — mostly about final details and small adjustments. I received photos from the product development department and even gave some feedback for minor improvements, especially on the Arkfeld.
But something in the pictures caught my eye. That didn’t look like a regular Arkfeld Pro! The battery and brightness indicators looked amazing — and even the shape was slightly different. Then, in one corner, I saw a small engraving: “Arkfeld 2 Pro.”
I thought, WOW. There’s an Arkfeld 2 — and I’m one of the first people to see it. And it’s in my design! I couldn’t believe it. The design fit this successor model perfectly.
At that point, I thought things couldn’t possibly get any better. But once again, Olight proved me wrong.
I received a message from Yuki, asking if I’d like to come to the Ofan Day in August — where my design would be officially presented. Once again, I was shocked (in the best way), honored, and incredibly grateful.
Of course, I said yes! Then it was time to get vacation approved, rush to get a new passport, and just a few weeks later, I was sitting on a plane in Frankfurt (Germany).
But not alone — I met up with Benny at the airport, and together we started our journey to New York City.
After checking in at the hotel, we walked to another hotel where I had the honor of meeting many wonderful Olight team members in person. Meeting Yolanda face-to-face was especially meaningful since we had been in touch so often before.
After the warm welcome, I got to see all the new products — all the new ArkPro models, including the stunning ArkPro Ultra. And for the first time, I held my ArkPro Phantom Squadron in my hands.
The following days were amazing. I met so many great people — both Ofans and Olight staff. I’m truly grateful for that experience.
Since the main event was the next day, I had some time to explore the city. As a photographer, New York was absolutely inspiring — I walked countless miles and took tons of beautiful photos.
Of course, the highlight was Ofan Day itself.
I met even more amazing people and had inspiring conversations. The Olight community is full of kind and generous souls. You can already sense it in the Facebook groups — but meeting these fans and staff in person showed me how genuinely warm-hearted they all are.
It was also a special honor for me when the ArkPro in my design was presented on stage — and my name was mentioned. Later, I was even invited onto the stage to receive an award.
Looking back on this entire O-Designer journey from 2023 until now, I still can’t fully comprehend that all of this really happened. I don’t want to list names, because there are so many wonderful people I’ve met — and I wouldn’t want to forget anyone. But I truly hope I’ll see many of you again soon!
Finally, I want to take this opportunity to say thank you.
Without going into too much detail — since the end of 2024, I’ve been going through a very dark and difficult time, probably one of the hardest in my life. And just when I was literally at my lowest point, Olight came along — turning my design into reality and inviting me to NYC — and brought light back into my life.
For that, I want to thank the entire Olight team from the bottom of my heart.
It fills me with pride, honor, and gratitude to be part of the Olight family.
Yours,
Andreas Isenberg
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