A few weeks ago I got to geek out a bit with some lighting colleagues during dinner, a rare treat for someone who works mostly remotely. My Zoom conversations are almost always task-oriented, designed to accomplish something and then move on to the next one, and that makes unscripted, unmeasured, non-billable communication somewhat unusual- and […]
Category: Design Theory
EXPOSURE: Values & Stories
I continue to explore the overlap of lighting business and lighting language in the April/May 2024 issue of designing lighting in an article on light, values, and stories. The article is based on writing from the blog, but each time I circle back to the same topic I make new discoveries and find new ways to think and […]
Above-the-Ceiling TETRIS
Yesterday I saw a LinkedIn post from another lighting designer featuring a photograph of a hallway under construction, with three parallel ceiling joists running down the hall. Each was filled with a round duct for heat and air conditioning. There was no explanation; there need not be. One look and I understand the pain: there […]
Builders, Lighting, & A New Way
Lighting designers could help builders…if we can change our ways. Residential builders are often the most reluctant of the major stakeholders to support custom lighting design, and with very good reason. In a previous post, I meandered through the overlapping territories of lighting and building and thought about how lighting design is often a threat to […]
Builders & Lighting
Lighting designers and builders often complain about each other…instead of partnering for the benefit of all. Custom residential lighting design – the way it is normally done – can be the enemy of a builder’s desire to complete the project on time and on budget. Great lighting requires more planning (adding cost and time), better […]
EXPOSURE: lytePOD
It’s been a solid six weeks or so since my last traditional post, an unusually long stretch that may continue for a bit longer as I struggle to complete a few more projects and clear space for more creative writing. My proverbial pen has not been entirely neglected, however, and I will post articles I […]
Light Can Help Us #15: All Together Now
I do not like messy things. You might not believe me based on the usual state of my desktop, but disorganization and messes slowly sap my strength. A freshly organized and cleaned desk invigorates. My team never sees my desk, as we are a distributed workforce (also known as work-from-home or remote workers), but they […]
DON’T/DO THIS: Begin Again?
Blogging is a unique endeavor for me, a space for creative thinking that has no editor, no deadlines, and no restrictions. It is a space of ultimate freedom which, for someone like me, can be paralyzing. A blank page can be a scary thing. Yet blogging is also an exciting space for me, a place […]
Light Can Help Us #14: Get in the Zones
I just spent the better part of eleven months detailing how light can help us live better lives when we pay attention to the five (or six) promises of light. When I started the series in January, I imagined myself patiently exploring each promise and laying out a strong case for their use in guiding lighting design […]
Light Can Help Us #13: Light for Story
It’s November! My 2023 Light Can Help Us series is nearing its end, the revisiting of my preferred language of light nearly complete. Or is it? Long before Light Can Help You was born, I began experimenting with a new language of light, a new way to talk about why light is important and how it can help […]