Windows 7
Singapore 9th September 2010
Don’t worry I am not going to give you a technical assessment of MS Windows 7. I would not be able anyhow, I am already happy that I know how to use my laptop to write my blog! Kidding aside, my blog is about things in my daily life as lighting designer and Windows 7 has been just one of those things that crossed my path today! I recently got myself a new laptop as my “old” one was starting to show some serious signs of fatigue, which considering the near 24/7 use over the last 3-4 years is no surprise. My laptop travels with me everywhere I go and is never far out of my sight.
But what happens with new equipment it comes with the latest software and so I find myself now operating (or should I say finding my way in…?) Windows 7, supposedly the next step up from Windows XP I had been using before. We get used to our laptops and how they work, don’t we? I could find my way blindly on my old laptop and knew exactly how to avoid its little shortcomings. Now I have to start all over again. I can’t find files, program’s, access paths to some operations I want to perform, frustration all over! Of course it’s all there and more but it is just not there where you it used to be!
I won’t bother you with what I was trying to do, but it just took nearly an hour out of my day trying to figure out how to do it, where to find it. With some help I eventually got there (good that some colleagues went through the pain before me). All part of the down side of having a new laptop as you have to get to know your new one first and make sure you have transferred all your crucial files (and then know how to access it!) Unfortunately you don’t know until you reach the point as I was today. That is when you are really jealous of all those savvy IT people…
At least I can now boost of having the latest software versions and don’t have to send people emails asking them to safe and resend their files in an old version so I can open it .. 🙂
Mood and motivation
Singapore 8th September 2010
Motivation is a one of the keys to success. It is a general statement but certainly applies to the world of lighting designers. When you feel good and motivated you can move mountains. If you feel bad and frustrated every little task seems too much. The result…we become unreasonable to others…I have always taken pride in making sure my staff feels respected, listened too and supported, because that brings the best out of everyone.
“We are family…” as the song goes, which is very true for the typical small communities that lighting design practices typically are. We all have a life outside work and while work is the bread winner for most families, we have to make sure we find the right balance between the pressures of work and the quality of life, health included!
I am currently dealing with some business issues that frustrate and irritate the hell out of me. Most of all they take the juice out of my creativity and motivation on days when these matters surface or when I have to deal with the people related to them. Most of the time it boils down to issues related to trust, respect and money. I generalize here but when you take of the many layers that envelope these issues I have found that these are often a key part of it. Blaming someone else is neither constructive, nor respectful. Ignoring the matter can be a way but does not really resolve a conflict.
If someone wants to be right, someone else has to be wrong. That is a win-lose situation. What we want is a win-win situation. This can only be achieved by acknowledging each other with trust and respect. You can always agree to disagree, right? But it takes two to tango, so to speak, so both parties need to involve and compromise as needed to be part of the solution. Someone ever told me: “If you are not part of the solution, you are part of the problem!”
Today I am obviously moody as I have not managed to resolve the issues bothering me yet. But this blog is about our daily life as a lighting designer and dealing with “life” in general and moodiness specifically is one of them!
The cheque is in the mail (2)
Chennai 7th September 2010
When I finished yesterday’s blog I realized that there is still a whole other side to the story. If you manage to collect your due payment the story ends happily, but what if you keep chasing and the client for some reason fails to pay you? In this part of the world quite a common situation. They may just ignore your invoice, ignore your calls, have a million excuses (right or wrong), but meanwhile keep pressuring you to deliver your next stage of work. Ever been there?
So what do we do? Stop working until we get paid? Even though our contract stipulates that we have the right to withhold our work in case of non-payment the reality is that sometimes it is not so clear cut. Our assessment of work completed is not necessarily the clients view. So do we force the issue? Somehow going to war does not work very well, certainly not in this part of the world. If you want to be right it means you will blame someone else to be wrong! Not always a good thing in Asian culture. The downside of holding back is then that the client will accuse you of not having done the work, since you obviously will not want to issue it to them as that is exactly your leverage and bargaining power!
Sometimes the client becomes excessively demanding (or non-demanding when it comes to quality issues for instance) to a point where you want to say to the client your way or the highway. This is when we feel that our name is on the line. Do we throw in the towel (and forego part of our remaining fees) or do we hang in there and try and make the best of it. There is the saying that the absentees are always wrong, so quitting the project seems hardly the recommended way. But I have personally experienced two projects in recent times, where the client just simply stopped talking to us. A sort of silent death…of course you can then forget about the remainder of your fees.
While we have tried debt collectors (with mixed success), generally the best way is to accept “defeat” and move on if any further diplomatic talk fails. If the relationship is broken, it is hard to mend it. Count your losses and move on…
The cheque is in the mail…
Singapore- Chennai 6th September 2010
Off to India for a site coordination meeting with client and operator.
One of the recurring issues for us all the time is collection of payments for our services. We generally do a round up monthly of all our work to see what is billable or not, specifically the progressive invoicing for work completed. Sometimes if we have a clear and big submission, like 100% DD for example, we will issue the invoice straight away. Never a better time than now, isn’t it? That is the easy part. Where all our skills and diplomacy really are required is to actually collect the money!
We all know the famous answer: “The cheque is in the mail….”, which basically means we haven’t done it yet. Another classic is: “Sorry our director is overseas and we need his signature to process the payment!”, followed by: “He will be back in 2 weeks or so, sorry for the inconvenience”. You want some more? What about: “Sorry our company policy is 90 days”, or “Aall payment requests need to be in before the 20th of each month otherwise it carries over to the next month”. The most blatant one is of course: “Sorry we did not receive (or can’t find) your invoice, can you send it again?” Which of course they will only tell you when you chase them after a month. There is a variation on the same theme when they say: “The address on the invoice is wrong, can you please send it in again?” There are a few more but you get the gist.
It is all designed to hang on to their money as long as possible and maximize the delay as much as possible. While a general way of dealing in Asia it happens everywhere in the world I assume, though I must say my experience with Australia is actually quite good, with little issue or disputes on invoices. To make our life easy we need to organize the project administration and get to know the responsible people behind your payments is very important. Building steps of approval to avoid disputes is part of that.
Last but not least a happy client is more likely to pay then an unhappy client. So our main focus really is on delivering good quality work! But then again this is easier said than done…
Night life
Singapore 5th September 2010
One of the key elements of a developed city is the extent of night life available. The more rural, the more basic life in general. But for those of you living and working in big cities you will know the places to go at night. Singapore has come a long way since the first time I set foot here now more than 20 years ago. I remember the first pop concerts coming to town, the first building facades to be lit, the first F1 night race in more recent times and soon the Marina Bay light festival.
Without light there is no night life and I am not necessarily talking about sophisticated LED lit facades or disco’s. Last night I visited the Geylang Serai night market, which of course would not exist without light, but the activity was simplicity in regards to light. In fact it was not about light at all, it was about people celebrating the end of Ramadan, going out for food and bargains, meeting friends and family. Lighting was basic, mostly bare bulbs (CFL and HIT) hanging of a wire, surprisingly enough little LED’s. The only LED (simple rope light) to be found was on the main road decorating the trees and gantries over the road. Some of the lights were straight out glaring, but accepted as part of the ambiance. The main senses being “tested” were smell and sound. Touch if you consider the enormous amount of people pushing their way through. Impossible to move around without bumbing into someone… 🙂
In stark contrast stand the city center skyline a bit further down the road, that is gradually becoming a more iconic illuminated sight at night. The Singapore Flyer ferris wheel, the Marina Bay Sands sky garden, the Fullerton Hotel and many of the Singapore River bridges that are now lit contribute to a much more exciting experience in the city at night.
The point is that night life does not mean sophisticated lighting. We tend to lose ourselves into thinking that developed means sophisticated (aren’t Ion Orchard, Orchard Central and Wilkie Edge a bit over the top?). To me night life is all about simplicity and ambiance. Lighting is just a small (but essential) part of it.
Art talk
Singapore 4th September 2010
Did you know I am making my first steps into the world of art, light art that is? I can safely say that I am established as an architectural lighting designer which is an art by itself, but as an “art” artist I am really a novice. So I am very pleased that my entry for the Smart Light Singapore festival to be held later this year has been selected as one of the 25 (international) artworks to be displayed around Marina Bay! The artwork, designed with my colleague Shane, has a strong environmental message and will be very energy friendly, one of the themes of the festival. As for now I can’t reveal the details as the art works are still under embargo until they are released through their promotional campaigns to the public. You may already have read about it in several newspapers, I understand the New York Times and the International Herald tribune have already run the stories as well. Look out for mine there soon! The website (at www.smartlightsingapore.com) will be up and running in the coming week and have background stories on all artists and their works.
Today I attended a briefing with the organizing festival directors and the participating artists, which was really “illuminating”. Artists are a different breed of people then designers. Some are outspoken, some are very introvert. But the common language is their artwork and their passion for what drove them to creating it. In this world of art there are no limitations and I think that is probably the big difference with commercial and architectural lighting design. It is all about imagination, nothing is impossible…
I felt a little bit as a fish out of the water, but at the same very connected. We all got to introduce our artworks to each other and provide some background info on what had driven us to it. As this festival is about the smart use of light and lighting, it is interesting how everyone experiences and translates lighting into art. While I am approaching light more from a creative/technical direction, it is obvious that some, with no real technical knowledge of light, approach it purely from a feeling and senses point of view.
I am looking forward to a great event and possibly a start as a creative artist
Approvals
Singapore 3rd September 2010
There is a crucial link in the overall process of design called “approvals”. We engage with our fellow project consultants, develop lighting concepts, present our lighting ideas, develop design details, issue technical documentation, but if we fail to integrate approvals in the process we (and others) may end up doing a lot of abortive work. Today I spent agonizing with my team about how to proceed with a few projects in which the client does not seem to understand the process of design.
The design process follows a logical sequence but relies on receiving the necessary input from our fellow project consultants in terms of design to progress in time. Design coordination, as blogged about before, is crucial. But if the client fails to provide consolidated comments and feedback on the design we end up following individual comments and as we find out time and again contradicting directives. It is crucial for our own team and the client to understand and agree on the process which requires approvals along the way of each major key design stage.
The projects (by the same client) frustrating us have a client pushing us to issue final documentation without having approved the actual design. We in return are reluctant and unwilling to issue anything as we have yet to coordinate major parts of our design with the main lead consultants (interior designer, architect and landscape consultant). Meanwhile the contractor is on site is progressing with construction works missing the vital information in regards to electrical requirements for the lighting. So under pressure we are forced to issue partial information on which site can move to work, even though we know that it is incomplete and that changes will inevitably happen after coordination and when the client finally give their feedback.
This could have all been avoided by agreeing right from the start on the design process with steps built in along the way to obtain the approvals before moving on to the next stage of design work. Unfortunately this did not happen as we came in late into the project and were hoping to settle this along the way. We have been playing catch up and fire-fighting ever since. A project in which we can’t seem to win. Another lesson learned…
It’s all in the details…
Bangkok – Singapore 2nd September 2010
What I like about those in depth one on one design meetings is the time we can spend on resolving actual lighting design details. Getting the overall concept right is one thing but it is really the execution of the details that will finally make or break the end result. There is of course the follow up in getting it right on site by coordinating with the contractors and suppliers, but getting these details right at an early stage (or as early as possible) saves a lot of headache later on. If we work them out too late it becomes a hard call to have them integrated as most of the other consultants would already have finalized their drawings and understandably nobody is really happy if they have to modify or revise their work again. Lighting is not an stand-alone discipline, it has to harmonise with interiors, architecture, electrical, etc, etc.
So what sort of details am I talking about? For instance any light that has to be recessed or buried into a floor can be very tricky. Cabling has to be provided to the installation points, there has to be enough depth to recess the light (some of those in-grounds are damned big!) and if not possible because of structural slab issues we may need to agree on a plinth or raised base to accommodate the lights. Let’s not forget the water proofing issues.
Many details are also related to lights integrated in millwork, cabinets, etc. The lead designers may have provided the main conceptual idea but do we have enough space to incorporate the correct light for the desired lighting effect? Coordination is critical. Incorrect dimensions may result in lights or electrical gear not properly concealed or lights even not fitting the allocated space. It wouldn’t be the first time that happens…
“Classics” are maintenance issues. Lights being build-in behind translucent panels but no-one really thought of providing any access doors for lamp replacements and maintenance. The onus is on us as lighting designers to point this out to the lead consultants. Sometimes it is just the location itself. The hotel where I stayed in Bangkok for instance had lights mounted into coves in a 4 storey high ceiling. All lights were off… I wonder why?
It’s all in the details….
Too many minds, too many opinions
Bangkok 1st September 2010
One of the things that was proved again over my last two days of lighting design coordination meetings, is that the more people are involved in a meeting the more views and opinions are tabled. Or better still, the smaller the team of “decision” makers in the meeting the more efficient and faster the progress. One of my key requests had been to keep the discussions team as small and relevant as possible so we could cover as much ground as possible. Our (China) clients are chasing like mad for us to issue drawings and technical documentation, but fail to understand the simple sequence of the design process let alone the importance of interdisciplinary coordination. I can’t possibly issue my lighting design concept without having full understanding of the architectural and interior design concept, can I?
My point today is that so often we find ourselves in meetings with too many people and because they are in the meeting they feel they need to say something to make themselves look important. But the result is that we get too many opinions, irrelevant or trivial questions or comments which most of the time delay the discussions and set us back rather then move forward. A classic situation in Asia is when the big boss is in a meeting with 4 or 5 of his subordinates. They start asking questions in order of hierarchy, first the most junior one then the next up till the boss, sometimes the other way around…. even better sometimes the boss comes in later and we have to go through the same sequence again.
One of the great challenges in our job is to manage our meetings. Most clients have no respect for our time and request your presence in meetings regardless whether the subject is relevant to you or not. In contrast these last two days have been highly enjoyable, extremely satisfactory and productive, just the lead design consultant and ourselves. Talking to like-minded people who speak the same design language brings out the best in all of us.
Advertising
Bangkok 31st August 2010
Currently in Thailand for a few days of design coordination meetings on some of our projects. On my way from the airport into town this morning I noticed a huge billboard sign promoting Ligman architectural outdoor lighting products. I am aware of several multi- national lighting manufacturers with a production base in Thailand (Weef for one), but advertising on commercial billboards is quite unusual for our professional type of lighting. Manufacturers in our professional business advertise in professional lighting or architecture related magazines but not often in mainstream public spaces.
What about us lighting designers, do we advertise? I know some do at times, mostly the newer inexperienced companies, but to my knowledge the more established practices generally do not really take up commercial advertisement space. I have tried a few times in the early days of my practice only to find myself many dollars lighter with absolutely no noticeable return on my “investment”. Occasionally lighting designers take up a congratulatory advertisement with their clients at the opening of a project they worked on successfully, but most of the time we are “coerced” into it by a client who paid our fees and expects this as a token of gratitude.
Our advertisement really comes from our exposure to the professional public of our lighting design achievements or expert knowledge. The prime source for our “advertisement” are publications that take a write-up on our projects. These are generally free as most professional lighting and architectural design magazines live by reporting on projects and other related expert lighting information. From my personal experience one professional report on one of your (successfully) completed projects nearly always triggers a reaction from someone somewhere.
In this day and age your website also provides an entry point for many of your potential clients. I do not have hard figures but I can tell for sure that a substantial part of our clients reach us through finding us on the net. But the best and surest advertisement is by far word of mouth. What better than a satisfied client or happy fellow project consultant promoting your services to others!
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