Light Talk - A Year in the Life of Light [PDF]
For a full year, from October 2009 to October 2010, Martin Klaasen, an award winning lighting designer with more than 30 years of experience in the lighting industry, blogged about his experiences on a daily basis. This book is the compilation of his one year of blogging. Intentionally light hearted, extremely down to earth and very educational in the process, Martin takes his readers on an emotional as well as insightful tour through the world of being a professional lighting designer.
ABOUT THE BLOG:
Sometime in 2009, I saw the movie Julie and Julia (starring Meryl Streep and Amy Adams) in which Julie decides to blog about her experiences trying out one new recipe a day! Later that night I began to hook on to the idea of blogging and thought why don’t I blog about lighting, my passion, each day for a year!
In my job as lighting designer I travel a lot, have projects all over the world and meet so many exciting people in the industry. Bring into the mix my many years of lighting experience, the world events and local happenings ...so much to share and talk about! And so the idea was born.
As it happened a week later I attended the Professional Lighting Design Conference (PLDC) in Berlin and I decided that it would be a great starting point for the blog. During the event I shared the blog idea with the organisers and got asked whether I would mind having the blog featured on the Professional Lighting Design (PLD) magazine website and the rest is history as they say. Now, 365 days later, I look back on the exploit…I managed to write my blogs each and every day without fail, even when stranded in snow storms in Northern China without internet connection!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
After graduating with a Master’s Degree in Industrial Design from the Delft University, Martin joined the Philips Lighting Design and Engineering Centre in Eindhoven, Holland, in 1979. In 1988 he was sent out by Philips to set up a centre for professional lighting design in Singapore leading a team responsible for projects and training in the region.
In 1991, Martin decided to venture out, by setting up his own independent lighting consultancy practice, the Singaporebased Lumino Design. His breakthrough projects, Raffles Hotel in Singapore and the Petronas Twin Towers in KL, Malaysia (where he was one of the three commissioned lighting designers) earned him the respect of his peers and launched his career as a lighting designer. When the economy crashed in Asia in the late nineties, Martin decided to move to Perth, Australia, where he merged his practice with Lighting Images which he then successfully built to become one of the leading and well respected lighting design practices in the Asia Pacific region and beyond.
Since January 2011, Martin exclusively applies and expresses his passion for lighting design through his new company Klaasen Lighting Design, the culmination of all his years and experiences as a lighting designer. This expertise, combined with his creativity and unique awareness of lighting technologies is integral to his designs, improving and enhancing the quality and sustainability of lighting in professional installations in the process. He is also passionate about sharing his knowledge by educating his clients, colleagues and the public through his many articles in the media, guest speaking at international lighting events and more recently his daily blog.
For a full year, from October 2009 to October 2010, Martin Klaasen, an award winning lighting designer with more than 30 years of experience in the lighting industry, blogged about his experiences on a daily basis. This book is the compilation of his one year of blogging. Intentionally light hearted, extremely down to earth and very educational in the process, Martin takes his readers on an emotional as well as insightful tour through the world of being a professional lighting designer.
ABOUT THE BLOG:
Sometime in 2009, I saw the movie Julie and Julia (starring Meryl Streep and Amy Adams) in which Julie decides to blog about her experiences trying out one new recipe a day! Later that night I began to hook on to the idea of blogging and thought why don’t I blog about lighting, my passion, each day for a year!
In my job as lighting designer I travel a lot, have projects all over the world and meet so many exciting people in the industry. Bring into the mix my many years of lighting experience, the world events and local happenings ...so much to share and talk about! And so the idea was born.
As it happened a week later I attended the Professional Lighting Design Conference (PLDC) in Berlin and I decided that it would be a great starting point for the blog. During the event I shared the blog idea with the organisers and got asked whether I would mind having the blog featured on the Professional Lighting Design (PLD) magazine website and the rest is history as they say. Now, 365 days later, I look back on the exploit…I managed to write my blogs each and every day without fail, even when stranded in snow storms in Northern China without internet connection!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
After graduating with a Master’s Degree in Industrial Design from the Delft University, Martin joined the Philips Lighting Design and Engineering Centre in Eindhoven, Holland, in 1979. In 1988 he was sent out by Philips to set up a centre for professional lighting design in Singapore leading a team responsible for projects and training in the region.
In 1991, Martin decided to venture out, by setting up his own independent lighting consultancy practice, the Singaporebased Lumino Design. His breakthrough projects, Raffles Hotel in Singapore and the Petronas Twin Towers in KL, Malaysia (where he was one of the three commissioned lighting designers) earned him the respect of his peers and launched his career as a lighting designer. When the economy crashed in Asia in the late nineties, Martin decided to move to Perth, Australia, where he merged his practice with Lighting Images which he then successfully built to become one of the leading and well respected lighting design practices in the Asia Pacific region and beyond.
Since January 2011, Martin exclusively applies and expresses his passion for lighting design through his new company Klaasen Lighting Design, the culmination of all his years and experiences as a lighting designer. This expertise, combined with his creativity and unique awareness of lighting technologies is integral to his designs, improving and enhancing the quality and sustainability of lighting in professional installations in the process. He is also passionate about sharing his knowledge by educating his clients, colleagues and the public through his many articles in the media, guest speaking at international lighting events and more recently his daily blog.
For a full year, from October 2009 to October 2010, Martin Klaasen, an award winning lighting designer with more than 30 years of experience in the lighting industry, blogged about his experiences on a daily basis. This book is the compilation of his one year of blogging. Intentionally light hearted, extremely down to earth and very educational in the process, Martin takes his readers on an emotional as well as insightful tour through the world of being a professional lighting designer.
ABOUT THE BLOG:
Sometime in 2009, I saw the movie Julie and Julia (starring Meryl Streep and Amy Adams) in which Julie decides to blog about her experiences trying out one new recipe a day! Later that night I began to hook on to the idea of blogging and thought why don’t I blog about lighting, my passion, each day for a year!
In my job as lighting designer I travel a lot, have projects all over the world and meet so many exciting people in the industry. Bring into the mix my many years of lighting experience, the world events and local happenings ...so much to share and talk about! And so the idea was born.
As it happened a week later I attended the Professional Lighting Design Conference (PLDC) in Berlin and I decided that it would be a great starting point for the blog. During the event I shared the blog idea with the organisers and got asked whether I would mind having the blog featured on the Professional Lighting Design (PLD) magazine website and the rest is history as they say. Now, 365 days later, I look back on the exploit…I managed to write my blogs each and every day without fail, even when stranded in snow storms in Northern China without internet connection!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
After graduating with a Master’s Degree in Industrial Design from the Delft University, Martin joined the Philips Lighting Design and Engineering Centre in Eindhoven, Holland, in 1979. In 1988 he was sent out by Philips to set up a centre for professional lighting design in Singapore leading a team responsible for projects and training in the region.
In 1991, Martin decided to venture out, by setting up his own independent lighting consultancy practice, the Singaporebased Lumino Design. His breakthrough projects, Raffles Hotel in Singapore and the Petronas Twin Towers in KL, Malaysia (where he was one of the three commissioned lighting designers) earned him the respect of his peers and launched his career as a lighting designer. When the economy crashed in Asia in the late nineties, Martin decided to move to Perth, Australia, where he merged his practice with Lighting Images which he then successfully built to become one of the leading and well respected lighting design practices in the Asia Pacific region and beyond.
Since January 2011, Martin exclusively applies and expresses his passion for lighting design through his new company Klaasen Lighting Design, the culmination of all his years and experiences as a lighting designer. This expertise, combined with his creativity and unique awareness of lighting technologies is integral to his designs, improving and enhancing the quality and sustainability of lighting in professional installations in the process. He is also passionate about sharing his knowledge by educating his clients, colleagues and the public through his many articles in the media, guest speaking at international lighting events and more recently his daily blog.