Put light where you want and where you need it. Make it beautiful and while allowing form to follow function, never allow beauty to be denied-

adapted from Richard C. Peters

The Lighting News is a forum for discussion of various aspects of lighting. In this section, I will focus on featured fixtures and new products, which are enhancing the lighting world. Through my studies of many different fixture manufacturers and visits to lighting trade shows in Europe, I have built up a library of fixtures, which I have either used or seen. Decorative fixtures are an integral part of any lighting scheme. With several hundred lighting manufactures throughout the world, deciding on a particular piece can be like walking through a minefield. Part of my role as a lighting designer is to help steer my clients in a suitable direction. Fixtures do not simply exist on their own. With the advent of the open-concept design, several rooms are visible at once. A fixture must work within the confines of a single room, but must all be compatible with all fixtures visibly connected.

The Lighting News will highlight what I have learned over the passed nearly 30 years as an electrician, as the interface between the electrician and the designer and during the past 10 years of running my own company.

In addition to featured products and my own personal take on lighting situations, I will also address the following:

• Why hire a Lighting Designer/Consultant?
• The Art of the Decorative Fixture
• Keeping Up with the New
• Beyond the Essential Needs of “Seeing”

Alternatively, I will also direct clients and potential clients to my views on some of the following lighting issues:

• The Use of Recessed Lighting- When and When Not To
• Glare Issues and How to Keep it at a Minimum
• Why Lighting Controls are Warranted
• Balancing Lighting Levels Within a Lighting Scene (Group of Lighting Loads)
• Creating Layers of Light and How This Enhances a Particular Space
• Cove Lighting
• Making Interior Lighting and Landscape Lighting Work Together

Please check back soon as the topics of discussion will be updated frequently.

David M. Brearey, Ph.D. - Owner
Hill Road Lighting Design