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 […]
Category: Design Theory
Showdown: Mouth vs Eyes
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 […]
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 […]
Layout Versus Design
I recently wrapped up my year of writing for Technology Designer, an elegant quarterly publication that also featured my stories on baths, living in place, and linear lighting. I was given an open invitation to share my final thoughts for design professionals to finish the series. I returned to one of the most common questions […]
Seven Saintly Solutions
One of the perks of starting your own company is that you get to pick your job title. At some point I decided that “Chief Evangelist of Light” (CEL) would be my own. Evangelist is a term that can have positive and negative connotations in our society, and that makes CEL of risky title. I […]
Humble Know-it-alls
“They are total know-it-alls.” I often ask homeowners, integrators, architects, and others if they have ever worked with a lighting designer. Most homeowners have not, and many do not know that we exist. The story is different for those in the trade. And in residential lighting design, from the responses I receive, there are know-it-alls […]
We All Age In Place
I made plans to write on this topic months before the world changed underneath us. Back then, Living in Place was an emerging term that encapsulated a myriad of design ideas intended to help us live better lives without having to change locations. Comfort, accessibility, safety, and wellness all fit within the term. Age in […]
A Better Life with Light
Technology Designer magazine has the best coverstock of any magazine that has ever published my writing…and the attention to detail doesn’t stop there. The graphic design is clean and modern and the whole magazine is as luxurious as the projects inside. Okay, enough of a plug for the magazine! If you want to decide if […]