A lighting designer is a highly skilled technical artist, and their medium is lighting. They either work independently or for a lighting distributor and know exactly which lighting is required to achieve certain outcomes.

A lighting designer is quite often the middle person between the end user and the contractor/engineer or wholesaler.

You can say the lighting designer is the artistic or creative director on a project to determine what sort of lighting-related visuals will craft the desired outcome to comply with the various codes and standards.

There is far more to lighting than meets the eye.

It is important to note that lighting designers aren’t limited to the architectural outcomes only, there are commercial, industrial, health, education, sports and event stage. Television and movie productions also make use of lighting designers, giving them access to critical expertise when lighting various scenes.

Lighting designers have specific responsibilities, and while the nature of the duties can vary depending on the project involved, certain activities and tasks are common for most jobs.

• Coordinate with clients to understand the project goals and their overall vision
• Create lighting design plans to achieve the desired result
• Write lighting plots to outline when lighting changes occur and how the lighting changes are executed (well standards circadian requirements)
• Monitor energy use to ensure the project complies with the National Building Code J6
• Make a strategic lighting-oriented decision that aligns with the client’s needs, Australian standard requirements and/or specifications
• Attend technical meetings to ensure lighting choices are correct, adjusting as needed

Lighting designers can also have additional responsibilities, and may also serve as Lighting Engineer when the specification or Council bylaws call for MIES-qualified Lighting Designers.

The lighting designer may also supervise a team of lighting professionals, giving them extra management duties on large projects.

Lighting designers need a comprehensive skill set to ensure they can handle the responsibilities of the job and the requirements of the various projects and specification fields. Usually, their base-level expertise is acquired through formal education, many lighting designers have completed a lighting course accredited by the Illumination Engineering Society and once they complete the course they may apply for an upgrade to Technician. (TechIES)

Like duties, the precise skills a lighting designer needs to thrive in a job can vary depending on a company’s needs. However, certain skill requirements are common. In the last few years, the requirements for MIES certification became a requirement to complete certain projects.

We have seen that many specifications and tenders stipulate that the designs are only to be completed by a certified MIES Lighting Engineer/Designer.
Haneco is privileged to say they have two MIES-certified designers on board with a combined lighting experience of over 35 years.

Their skill set covers every aspect of Lighting design requirements and covers Lighting Design applications for Roadway, Architectural, Industrial, Commercial, Residential, Sports, Greenstar, AS4282 Obtrusive compliance, and Apron and Casa requirements to just cover a view.

Haneco is proud to introduce you to our designers.

Jolanda Taljaard

Jolanda Received her Illumination Engineering Qualification from AUT in NZ in 2006 and became MIES certified in 2011 after completion of the required timeframe by the IESANZ. Jolanda has also become a Greenstar Associate after completion of the Greenstar Foundations Course.