At the ELS Expo, we saw many distributors and lighting designers and talked to a few, including designers from Fisher Marantz Stone, Domingo Gonzales Associates, WALD Studio, and independent designer Jennifer Bogdan.
Kelly Roberts of WALD was happy to go on the record, “So while many manufacturers offer a kit-of-parts to make custom fixture designs, Day-O-Lite offers true custom with the shapes of extrusions and lens.” She went on to say, “For example, they were showing a curving shape with a variety of splayed ends—narrower on one side and wider on the other. None were the same shape. Day-O-Lite is embracing their full custom capabilities.”
Jen Bogdan said she was impressed by the elliptipar booth, so I went and checked it out. Paul Ford gave me a tour. One thing that caught my eye was a unique commercial window light from Myer, a line that The Lighting Quotient picked up from Germany when they acquired Electrix. The Arclux is a luminaire for the accent lighting of window reveals. The light from two LEDs is directed from the opposite sides of the luminaire, via specially developed reflectors. The result is a uniform square arc of light.
Al Aylsworth from American Linear Lighting discussed that they can ship 1000 feet of linear next day, and they recently did a job with Tesla using their quick ship program. Their linear line is color tunable with dip switches located on top of the luminaires. Al explained the importance and difficulty with continuous run products, saying, “Downlights are never lined up back-to-back, and there can be ever so slight variations in color that the eye will not detect. But with continuous linear, everything must be exact, and their superior electronics ensure color consistency in long runs.
Extant Architectural Lighting was a new company for me. They explained their innovative Microstructure EdgeTech Optics, which offers optic control and exceptional performance with seamless illumination and uniformity. There was no pixilation or hot spots, nor could I see any lens breaks. The slot luminaires are low-profile with optic options like batwing, glare control and diffused light distributions. Pretty neat stuff from a relatively new company.
The Fabbian booth was cool in that their entire booth was their luminaire.
This was a great show, and it is so refreshing to go to a lighting show that is vibrant and healthy! One of the best things about rep shows is that food and adult beverages are served on the floor, allowing for a cocktail party atmosphere while distributors and designers are browsing products. It allows for very meaningful conversations.