I am blessed to work with some of the greatest scenic designers on the planet. They seem to have endless veins of creativity and come from all sorts of backgrounds and educations. However, it never ceases to amaze me how often they design with the most impractical scenic elements. Well, at least from this lighting designer’s point of view.
One example of this is the design team for Titleist Golf. I have been designing their trade show booths for a decade. I have come to learn that they want a certain look and they will stick with it, come hell or high water. Titleist is the largest manufacturer of golf balls worldwide. As an avid golfer, I jumped at the chance when approached to light their booth.
Sparkle vs. Glare
The first year, I was told nothing, just shown black and white renderings of the booth concept. I was given some advice from the design team, and that was, “Keep it simple.” Hmm, that can mean a lot of things. I asked what the Titleist color scheme of the booth was. They replied “white, black, and chrome.” Hmm, that leaves a very small color palette. In an effort to gather more intel, I asked them how they wanted the attendees to feel as they entered the booth. Designers, like myself, love to create a mood. The creative team wanted all Titleist logos and golf clubs to pop and sparkle. Sparkle can be good or it can be bad. If a sparkle turns into a glare, it can actually distract you from directly looking at the product. This is how I feel about audience blinders at a rock show. When they come on, I tend to close my eyes and miss what is happening on stage.
My truss design consisted of internally lit chrome truss. I incorporated a huge 60-foot diameter circle truss as a sparkling centerpiece with a 360° Titleist sign hung inside. Our fine scenic design team created another challenge for any lighting designer. All the branding signs and logos were constructed using a brushed metal finish. In addition, all the kiosks that displayed golf balls, clubs, hats, etc., had a large header cap over the top. That’s like trying to light Garth Brooks’ face when he’s wearing his jumbo cowboy hat. Okay, this is what I have to deal with, shut up and make it work. The entire truss that supported the kiosk and display lighting now had to come down as low as possible to eliminate glare and shadows caused by the scenic design. I needed a flatter light angle. I have learned not to be afraid to ask stupid questions, so I did. I called our design team and asked if we could build LED strip lighting into each header. This would get rid of the shadow that was sure to be there no matter how flat my truss lighting was. I was told there was no room in the budget, and I had to make it work. Copy that!
After working with similar booth designs for years now, I find the best way to light shiny chrome is to point your light straight on. You get significantly less glare. They have a huge golf club market. The club and putter displays take up half the booth. My job dictates all areas get equal attention, lit evenly. Golf balls are great to light because most of them are white and grab light easily. The shafts of clubs are all chrome, but the grips and heads tend to be black. I use a little extra lighting to make club displays pop. However, I still get the occasional person asking if I can make their chrome not so shiny. I smile and say, “Of course.” I then add filters to the fixtures and bring down the intensity. Voila, the shiny is much less shiny.
Left, Center, Right
When lighting brushed metal finishes, I go at this a very different way. If all I do is light brushed material surfaces straight on, it looks fine — until you stand off to one side. Then it looks dark, as if there is no light focused on it at all. So I have learned to light these materials with a concept similar to key lighting an actor. I use the left, center and right formula. This way, no matter what angle you view the material from, it looks well lit. Yes, this is still a challenging material to light. I need to spend more time talking with scenic designers about other material options.
I start my lighting designs with the intention of using all automated fixtures. I can usually sell the client on the extra rental cost of automated lights over the cost of a crew focusing hundreds of conventional fixtures for days. However, this client has decided to use conventional fixtures for budgetary concerns. Companies have people that consider every penny spent on marketing. I am very aware that lighting is a great tool to accent products and showcase a booth, but unfortunately it is often the first item cut from a trade show booth. I’m often asked by potential clients “Why don’t I just leave the houselights on and save the money.” I answer that you can, but a great lighting design not only brings their beautiful booth to life, it will also create attention from far away in the hall. I show them established photos from past projects to help demonstrate this point. In my world, seeing is believing.
If budget were not an issue, I would create a subtle but impactful booth using automated fixtures. Designing this way permits me the freedom to create quickly. This is helpful when walking the booth with a client. Quite often, items in a booth will need to be moved and refocused. With automated lights, focusing can be done in real time, giving the client a better feel of what I do for them. I have options at my disposal instantly, from color, patterns, and zoom options. If the client asks, “What would this look like in blue?” I can show them instantly.
A Workable Plan
During my time with Titleist, they have only done one major change to the booth’s overall appearance, so I guess I’m doing my job. Last year included a complete redesign of the booth so, naturally, I asked to be involved from the start. I am aware that, in the end, the scenic booth designers drove the redesign. However, some of my suggestions stuck and led to small victories for the lighting team this time around. We no longer have the “cowboy hat” kiosk headers, and the intelligent scenic designers have incorporated LED strip lighting into displays that are difficult to light from trusses at 24 feet above the show floor. We still keep it simple by using a clean white color palette. Yes, the centerpiece of the booth is now a 30-foot tall front wall made of brushed metal. And yes, golf clubs are still shiny, but I have a plan, and I’m sticking to it.
A wise person once told me that gratitude + acceptance = serenity. I am extremely grateful to have my clients, and I know I do not have control over other designers. Today I go into each job with a positive attitude. Once my years of experience have been utilized and I employ all the tools at my disposal, I can relax knowing the show will be a success. I take what I’m given and do my best to make it, and us, look good.
Mike Mahoney is the lead designer at Mahoney Design in Chicago. If you need to brush up on lighting metal, contact him at mike (at) mahoneydesign.biz.
