Lighting is undoubtedly one of the fastest growing sectors of the moment and is influencing and changing the world of design itself. This is one of the reasons why becoming a lighting designer is now an aspiration of so many. But what exactly is meant by lighting designer and what does this profession consist of?
Becoming a lighting designer does not mean being a lighting technician
A first distinction must be made regarding the two distinct professions of the lighting designer and the lighting technicianwhich have less in common than one might think.
The lighting technician has a professionalism related more to technique than creativity, dealing with the positioning of lights and the storage of cables during the installation of a system.
The lighting designeron the other hand, combines technical expertise on thelighting technology, electronics and lighting, a strong artistic component, which is expressed through taste and designer's sense of aesthetics.
It could be said that the lighting designer is the one who creates the general idea, the lighting design in the broadest sense of the term, taking into account all design requirements and visualising the potential of the spaces; in a second phase the lighting technician intervenes, to implement the concrete realisation of the project.
The sectors in which the lighting designer works
The lighting designer is a professional who works in a wide variety of fields, providing his expertise for the fitting out of different types of public and private spaces:
- concerts and events
- indoor environments (residential, commercial)
- outdoor environments (parks, car parks, gardens, squares, streets)
- shopping centres, shops
- factories, production plants
- museums and theatres
The lighting project: when an idea is... illuminating
It all starts with an idea, namely the lighting project. First comes the intuition of the lighting design, which is stitched around a variety of requirements, varying according to the purpose of the project.
From idea and intuition, the result of analysis and specific studies, comes a project that must then be brought to fruition. The work of the lighting designer goes through several stages:
- study/analysis of the situation and objectives
- project design
- feasibility study
- project design
- realisation
- wiring and installation
How to become a lighting designer: from passion to study
For become a lighting designer one must first of all have a great passion for this art. Equally fundamental is one's own specific training, which must include the following disciplines:
- The language and design of light
- Light applied to architecture
- Theory and technology of lighting design
- Light: photometric quantities, propagation and measurements
- Color theory
- Types of lighting and lighting direction
- Technical workshop for lighting design
- New LED technologies and innovative materials
- CAD software for lighting
The skills of a lighting designer.
The light designer has specific technical knowledge, which can be acquired in a special course, starting with knowledge of the latest computer tools useful for creating the light design to be reproduced.
Knowledge of the fundamentals of traditional photography, camera movement and framing are also essential, leading this professional to be able to dialogue and interact with the director of a theatre production.
A profession between technique and creativity.
La profession of the light designer responds to utilitarian and aesthetic requirements. The lighting designer cannot only indulge his or her own flair and creativity, as his or her work must first and foremost come to terms with technical feasibility requirements and structural constraints, as well as regulatory constraints.
The quest for aesthetic value must therefore harmonise with that of producing an effective and pleasing effect.
A specific route such as the specialisation course in lighting design by Italian Design Institute can certainly be an important step towards acquiring all the necessary technical skills, starting with the use of the tools of the trade.
Comprehensive training; the first step to becoming a lighting designer.
La training of a lighting designer must be as comprehensive as possible and embrace a number of specific disciplines, such as:
- lighting engineering (a branch of physics, indispensable for understanding light and knowing how to shape it according to needs);
- physics;
- materials science;
- the science of vision;
- photometry;
- colorimetry;
- electrical engineering.
Also important is knowledge of the tools of the trade, the types of lamps and how they work, the
technical characteristics, performance and mode of use, knowledge of the equipment, its manufacture, installation and maintenance.
The tools of a light designer's trade.
The graphic representation of lighting design is only possible with the help of the computer and the CAD softwareas well as those specific to the relevant professional sector.
These programmes, in fact, make it possible to give a very close-to-reality example of brightness, shadows and shades, as well as guaranteeing the rendering of colours.
Specific programmes allow two- and three-dimensional representations, animations and very detailed models of the project. Thanks to their precision, they are a valuable support for the designer when it comes to correctly dimensioning the installation, calculating the geometries of spaces, understanding what the lighting behaviour based also on surfaces, materials, objects and luminaire characteristics.
