Design Theory Archives - Page 5 of 11

1THING: Plug In Bedroom Lighting

A silhouetted figure reading on a bed in a bedroom. There is a ceiling fan on the ceiling and a table across the room on the other side of the image. The ceiling fan has a light. A big, bright arrow points from the light to the face of the figure. White text near the light reads "this light can hurt you" and points with a thin, white arrow to the ceiling fan light. Script text below the image reads "How to make a bedroom more comfortable..."

When it comes to plug-in lighting upgrades in the bedroom, the bedside table lamp is a runaway favorite. Both useful and ubiquitous, this staple of decorative lighting needs no introduction. And devoting an entire blog post to them might be considered a waste of time. That means I will probably write about bedside lamps someday, […]

What is Lighting Design?

On the left, there is a light switch connected to two light fixtures by a wire. All three items have a red tag with a white $ indicating that this is an affordable setup. On the right, there is the same setup with slight variations on details, making the items more elegant. The red tags on these show two and three $ indicating that it is more expensive. Below the left section, text reads in quotation marks "regular lighting." The text below the right section reads in quotation marks "lighting design."

“What do you do for a living?” inquired my seat mate on a recent flight. “I am a lighting designer,” I replied. [BLANK STARE] Explaining my job is, well, difficult at best. If people have any awareness of lighting design, it likely falls into the sentiments displayed in the image above. Our lighting plans, so […]

THINK LIGHT: Color Temperature

An illustration of a camera recording a lightbulb on a monitor. The lightbulb is yellow, but is depicted as green on the monitor. Text below reads "Why Choosing Color Temperature is Hard"

A few years ago I wrote a pulp piece for Houzz.com on how to choose the “right” color temperature of light. At the time there were just a few choices homeowners faced with lighting: choose 2700°K warm white, 3000°K not-quite-as-warm light, or perhaps 3500°K “neutral” white or 4000°K cool light. I recommended 2700°K for traditional […]

Exposure: Dallas Part 2

Wipliance is rolling them out fast and furiously! Their second video in the series showcases the main interior living area of the ProSource Lighting Technology and Learning Center in Dallas, Texas. It was fun filming with Lee Travis of Wipliance, though I confess it does get a little embarrassing watching myself on camera. All […]

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Gear Talk: Warm Dim

A photograph taken outside of an airborne airplane during golden hour right before sunset. The photo features the wing of the plane on the right, which is also where the sunlight is coming from. There is a sea of clouds along the bottom, with the horizon at about halfway up the photo. The clouds glow slightly golden. The plane wing is mostly in shadow.

What is the best color temperature for electric light? My answer is “all of them.” In this Gear Talk post I share photographs from a single business trip to Dallas, Texas. Call it a Lightseeing post…and I saw warm-dim everywhere. I think warm-dim should be a minimum standard, not an add-on. To explain, I’m going to […]

THINK LIGHT: The Incredible Iris

an illustration of a pair of eyes. A moon hangs over the left eye, and text labels it as "iris open." The iris is indeed open. A sun hangs over the right eye and text labels that as "iris closed." The iris is smaller than the left eye.

A key component of human sight is the flexible iris that opens and closes the pupil, constantly adjusting the amount of light that enters the eye. I am an unabashed lighting geek. I love learning about the science, technology, art, and technique of lighting design, I dig into light and health, and I always, always […]

Showdown: Mouth vs Eyes

Two boxes labeled SURVIVE and THRIVE. The SURVIVE box on the left has a a single light switch with the text "Warning: Poor light may result in sleep disorders, hormone disruption and more" The THRIVE box on the right has six icons for the right tools, the right place, the right time, the right light, the right controls, the right shades.

Would you be concerned if you had to eat McDonald’s hamburgers for breakfast, lunch, and dinner for the rest of your life? Did you know you are probably doing the equivalent with your light? Without food, we die. We need food, regularly and sufficiently, to survive. Many of us now have the privilege of moving […]

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Human Centric Lighting is…

I was recently asked to define the catchy term Human Centric Lighting, or HCL. We love lighting acronyms in the lighting world, so I came up with a few more than my previous post on this subject. Consider yourself warned. At its most essential, Human Centric Lighting is an attempt to undo our mistakes of […]

Blinding me with Science

Whoops. I just spent a lot of time re-designing the “light and health” section of our design presentations to include updated sections on the latest research, examination of snake-oil-sounding miracle products, and in-depth explanations of our six strategies for incorporating the science into our design work. I was very proud of the finished product. “Pride […]

More BS* + Beer

And…we’re back. The conversation around my first BS* + Beer guest appearance was so, er, illuminating that we found ourselves together just a few weeks later. This time the focus of the conversation was on lighting for the rest of us, or practical strategies we could apply on our own projects. Once again the hosts and guests […]

Category: Design Theory