Scott Oldner, Owner of Scott Oldner Lighting Design is crystal balling the next big trends in lighting and graphics.

Our profession has always sought organisation and flow of lighting instruments on the ceiling and walls and sometimes in the floor. In the ceiling, linear lensed lighting fixtures started gaining popularity with the manufacturing of the tri-phosphor T5 lamp whereby smaller size fixtures could be made.  Initially, the 4″ width got our attention as “the new small” size and we started using them to create lines of flow in the ceiling.  Then came the 3″ fluorescents that are still popular in the ceiling but also can turn corners coming down walls, used as flush mounted sconces, and creating portals of light. As designers, we also use many other shapes for graphical design and ceiling attraction, for we have a ceiling that needs some attraction and we can add style and ambient lighting at the same time.

Lots of small lines – history:

The graphic trend will continue as all of these fixtures are now available in LED sources. Because the LED is a smaller footprint, the fixture is now a smaller footprint, only 2″ across. However, by the end of 2013 our designs will be less graphical for most spaces, and with the improvements in LED recessed adjustable instruments, their output and beam spread choices, we will be gravitating back toward highlighting architecture, art, materials and creating more drama.  We will still want ceiling attraction but those elements will be more thought out and purposeful, include various shapes, and add more drama to a non-work space. We will gravitate toward bigger movements in our graphical elements but not be limited by lines, squares and rectangles. All trends fall in and out of favor even though some styles are timeless.

Bigger Moves – Future:

As the aperture size decreases and the lumens remain the same or increases, the probability of glare will increase and make us realize that the brightest spot in the space does not need to be the lighting instrument.

Linear lines of light are here to stay but will be less prominent after 2013.

Print PDF