Tips For Smart Lighting Effects

Without a doubt, developing an extensive, high-energy lighting system on-premise is no simple feat. To be sure, lighting a club once was one of the most costly endeavors an operator could attempt.

But cost-effective alternatives do exist. And trends toward architectural lighting to create a clubís vibe are encouraging, because owners with limited funds can tap into club-goersí need for new environments lit in funky ways ññ without spending a ton on wall sconces and other items currently finding their way into clubs with more resources. By being creative and exploiting a few simple principles, operators can change completely the feel of a bar or club and re-energize a patron base.

Color Me Packed One of the simplest ways to change the mood of a space is by changing its color, says Vincent Conigliaro, president of Salvin Design, based in Kingston, N.Y., which designs club interiors for operators across the nation. ìOperators can change the feel of a club by changing the color of it,î he says. ìWe look at a club as a canvas, and what you paint on it is the light that you put there. ìYou need a wall color that will accept color. Battleship Grey is very popular for us, because it can become any color. It will reflect any color light and become that color. So, with creative placement of some flood lamps and some gels, you can change the entire look of the room. One weekend, it could be red, and the next weekend it could be blue.

ìThe new LED lighting is very popular, but itís not quite cost-effective yet for the guy who is trying to do it on a budget,î Conigliaro says. ìThe guy on a budget is going to stay with gels or dichroic gels and acetate filters. That gives a club a whole new look.î But, Derek Iorfida, show designer with East Coast Lighting & Production Services Inc. (ECLPS) in Warwick, R.I., offers another perspective for how to stretch lighting dollars where the goal is setting the mood with color and argues in favor of LEDs.

ìMy biggest thing is I tell club owners to spend it once and not twice ññ do it right the first time,î Iorfida says. ìDonít try to spend the short dollar to make your club look good, because if you spend the long dollar, you can actually get something out of that later.î Does this sound, in fact, like a suggestion for someone with a bigger budget? Not really, when considering the maintenance cost of replacing expensive bulbs in traditional fixtures, Iorfida says.

ìGels get pretty expensive, if youíre buying a whole lot of it,î Iorfida says. ìIf you want to do things like that and keep your club fresh, stick with things like LEDs, and you can always change the color. Anything LED is expensive, but beneficial to saving money in the long run, because you never have to replace a bulb. They last forever. The color possibilities are unlimited. ìIím trying to push a lot of the clubs toward the LED if theyíre looking for mood lighting, just because theyíll never change a bulb. There are clubs out there that buy 50 pin spots, and pin spot bulbs donít last very long. They get expensive. Youíre buying 10-20 at a time at $6 to $7 apiece,î he says.

Old School Rules ìNothing replaces a mirror ball,î Conigliaro says. ìItís very cost-effective, with large output in a small area. You can do a lot of things with them, and you can get the mirror ball effect for less than $200. I like to do mirror balls not in the middle of areas, but in the corner of a room, shot from the side with a pin beam, or a 4515 as itís commonly known ... Also, I believe the mirror ball should be very slowly rotating. It creates a more dramatic effect than something thatís moving very fast.î

And for those operators wary of biting the bullet and ponying up the cash up front for long-term, maintenance-free LED fixtures, pin spots and other old school items still offer a savings over more expensive rigs, Iorfida says. ìA lot of the clubs around my area are leaning back toward the old school stuff to begin with, and the old school stuff is inexpensive. Obviously, the mirror balls and pin spots are good effects. People always like it. Then youíve got your inexpensive mood lighting now, like spinning gobos on the floor. Itís pretty cheap to do these days.

Tricks of the Trade Some lighting enhancements may not even require expenditures. Well-thought-out manipulation of existing fixtures sometimes does the trick.

Operators can relocate existing lighting, because customers get accustomed to where things are,î Conigiaro says. ìIn other words, if you have a light thatís been on the ceiling for a year and a half, move it. We also find that lights moved to walls ññ actually placed on walls instead of the ceilings ññ make a big difference in the way a club looks. It creates all new shadows. New shadows are thrown, and the club takes on a whole new look.î Copyright (c) 2004,Oxford Publishing


By Tad Wilkes
tad@oxpub.co