Happy happy designers
So IALD designers are cautiously optimistic about their work prospects. Hmmm. I can’t help feeling that its the same old story of two guys who, having fallen from a building, look at one another on the way down and say, “well – so far so good”.
It’s too soon and too naive to know how this downturn is going to turn out. Yes, we can talk about how important lighting designers are because of “increased environmental awareness”. But it’s just another way of saying that clients will continue to use us because we’re the only ones who know how to do it. Err ..... sorry guys. History shows that it ain’t quite as clear as that. Ask the lamp-lighters.
Competition will come from all directions as everyone scrabbles for a hand-hold on a shrinking life-raft and surveys that say, “Don’t worry dear; it’ll all turn out all right” just don’t help. We need clients willing to pay for our services. What we’ll see is a return to the bad old days when manufacturers / electrical designers / contractors / estate agents / ice-cream sellers and the local binman will all offer lighting deign as part of their business. Why? Because lighting in architecture is a necessary requirement, but it’s not a requirement that a pukka lighting designer does it.
As a specialist sector within the construction industry, we are in crisis. And we need to act now to make sure that we don’t simply get elbowed out of the way and left to sink in a very cold, very cynical, ocean.
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John Bullock Lighting Design: 01305 889256
