I’m sharing some of the lighting design trends and cool fixtures I saw last week at Dallas market and the Lightovation show.
There’s always lots to see at Dallas Market. Mostly, I have gone in the past, to buy accessories or final layer type items for clients.
There are good Cash and Carry sections within the market, so I save on shipping items like that, since I drive up in my own vehicle.
This trip, however, I was not in that mode for any one client right now and I knew that Dallas is really known for all those great lighting showrooms. While I always try to hit a few when I’m there, I focused on those this time, to get a handle on what’s new in lighting.
First, I want to talk about this one major aspect of lighting that is becoming a topic of discussion.
Integrated LED Lighting
While these fixtures have been around and on the market for awhile, the new intros and what is really being creatively developed now, in the lighting world, are integrated LED fixtures.
That means that the LED is integrated as part of the fixture, so that you can’t ever change the “lamping” out, it is part of the structure of the fixture. (And I imagine there is a better word for “lamping” or “lamp” here, but I’m not sure what that is and it helps describe what I mean in more layman’s terms.)
Of course, we are told LED lasts for 30 years or so before you start noticing the light begin to dim with the naked eye, etc. However, investing in an expensive fixture like these can make some clients and designers nervous about a lamp malfunction down the road.
I wanted to hear from various manufacturers about this and asked in several showrooms.
Sonneman Lighting, probably one of the most advanced and creative in the LED integrated fixture category, has a 5 year warranty on all their fixtures. Over 95% of their fixtures are LED.
They said that most times, if there is ever a malfunction, then it is with the driver, not the “lamping”.
The driver can be located in the housing but can also be located remotely in a very accessible, but hidden location, like a closet, for easy access.
They said not to compare or judge the longevity or quality of LED integrated fixtures with an LED undercabinet tape fixture (something most of us are very familiar with), as it is simply not at the same level.
What I learned…..if you are investing in integrated LED fixtures, go for quality with a reputable vendor.
If you are a homeowner, buying fixtures yourself and arranging your own installation, I would go with a local retail source. If they supply and install, then they would likely have an electrician come out, work on the driver and troubleshoot, to get that fixture up and going again, if there were problems on down the road.
This comment about the driver that would be the part to malfunction, as opposed to lamping, was repeated in several of the showrooms, where I asked.
Now, for the trends!
Lighting Design Trends
I noticed 3 main recurring trends in the new products featured in some of the showrooms at Dallas Market.
1. Organic, botanical motifs and styling are coming on strong with more decorative lighting pieces.
Is this the impact that biophilic design is having in the ethos right now? Is it perhaps the response to how live plants in interiors have become so popular on Instagram in the last few years?
I don’t know, but there is an undeniable trend in bringing these elements into interiors as motifs in some of the products I saw at this show.
I loved this gesso finish lamp from Oly that was nominated for an Arts Award. I’ve written about the rise in gesso or white plaster finishes on home decor objects and where to buy them before.
2. The popular finish combination that kept showing up in showrooms as I made my rounds was a matte black and brushed brass combination.
I love the touch of masculinity and complexity this combination provides.
These new fixtures from Hinkley Lighting made a statement in a matte black and brushed brass finish combination.
3. Flexibility or adjustability of fixtures seems to be something manufacturers are wanting to explore. With the development of more LED integrated lighting, creativity in design is exploding in this category, IMO. :-)
This boxy LED fixture from WAC Lighting comes in 3 sizes and the interior integrated LED boxes can be turned, on a whim, for a completely different look. You can simply reach up and rotate your lighting when your moods change……from tailored and tight to a little more free form and crazy. :-)
And no, the boxes don’t bump into each other when rotating!
The integrated LED system from Tech Lighting, below, can be configured in a multitude of ways, each bar is either an LED or blank black bar. Doesn’t this installation remind you a little of a Mondrian?
Let your creativity run wild!
Here’s another fixture that can be rotated or adjusted on site at any time, seen in this quick video I made. It’s from WAC Lighting.
This grid system, below, from Sonneman Lighting, can be configured however you wish! It’s like elegant Tinker Toys. :-) Remember those?
You can even rest objects on the light panel, as long as the fixture is properly installed and supported in the ceiling for the extra weight.
This super low profile fixture, below, is one, 3-light section. It’s a “V” shape, with the larger light in the intersection and the two smaller ones branching off.
The flexibility comes with how you can gang them together and adjust them at installation to create any kind of pattern and configuration imaginable.
I think integrated LED lighting design is only going to get more creative once the possibilities become more apparent and technology moves forward.
I love how these brands are offering options for even more flexibility down the path from manufacturing, to the designer of the interior and even to the end user.