What does a lighting designer do?
Lighting Designers are responsible for developing and implementing electrical and lighting systems. They are responsible for conducting site assessment and analysis, liaise with clients and engineers to determine technical specifications, design lighting plans, create budget reports for a project initiated, track progress targets, install electrical and lighting systems and ensures installation adheres to local energy regulation as well as building codes. Lighting designers work in commercial, industrial, or residential spaces and must demonstrate computer software proficiency such as AutoCAD and Adobe Creative Suites.
Lighting designer responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real lighting designer resumes:
- Develop marketing and brand awareness initiatives through social media outlets; create and manage company Facebook and Houzz profiles.
- Attend various IES, IALD and W.I.N.D.
- Involve with leer certified projects.
- Set up, run and troubleshoot audio/visual/lighting equipment.
- Operate light equipment, dimmers, control boards.
- Design stage lighting configurations in google sketch or AutoCAD.
- Provide calculations for code compliance for certifications such as LEED.
- Develop problem solving skills to troubleshoot lighting and video equipment.
- Moderate 2D & 3D drafting skills in AutoCAD and Vectorworks.
- Design fascia and parking lot lighting using AGI software and AutoCAD.
- Handle DMX control lighting, wireless audio, and live sound.
- Attend design meetings, run shows, diagnose and fix lighting equipment
- Research, sketch, draft, and render all scenic elements for the show.
- Work with outside sales team to identify lighting retrofit and energy saving sales opportunities.
- Process payments through a POS register, and also through a kiosk for online orders.
Lighting designer skills and personality traits
We calculated that 21% of Lighting Designers are proficient in Revit, Photoshop, and Light Fixtures. They’re also known for soft skills such as Mechanical skills, Problem-solving skills, and Analytical skills.
We break down the percentage of Lighting Designers that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Revit, 21%
Worked heavily within and Revit and AutoCAD environments; developed lighting families
- Photoshop, 14%
Completed digital night renderings of lighting concepts using Photoshop.
- Light Fixtures, 7%
Order, Stock and service light fixtures for over 21 major lighting manufactures.
- Leed, 6%
Provided calculations for code compliance for certifications such as LEED.
- AGI, 5%
Designed fascia and parking lot lighting using AGI software and AutoCAD.
- CAD, 5%
Worked with Auto Cad in design Visited and worked on job sites for fiber optic installations and other applications.
Most lighting designers use their skills in "revit," "photoshop," and "light fixtures" to do their jobs. You can find more detail on essential lighting designer responsibilities here:
Mechanical skills. The most essential soft skill for a lighting designer to carry out their responsibilities is mechanical skills. This skill is important for the role because "industrial designers must understand how products are engineered, at least for the types of products that they design." Additionally, a lighting designer resume shows how their duties depend on mechanical skills: "used solidworks to design and optimize mechanical parts. "
Problem-solving skills. Another essential skill to perform lighting designer duties is problem-solving skills. Lighting designers responsibilities require that "industrial designers determine the need, size, and cost of a product; anticipate production issues; develop alternatives; evaluate options; and implement solutions." Lighting designers also use problem-solving skills in their role according to a real resume snippet: "provided necessary support and supervision of assembly on site, assessed sales representatives with easier design solutions to the clients requirements. "
Analytical skills. This is an important skill for lighting designers to perform their duties. For an example of how lighting designer responsibilities depend on this skill, consider that "industrial designers use logic or reasoning skills to study consumers and recognize the need for new products." This excerpt from a resume also shows how vital it is to everyday roles and responsibilities of a lighting designer: "provide lighting design concepts & proposals oversee all custom modification requests perform lighting mock-ups product research & analysis light renderings/ visualizations".
Artistic ability. lighting designer responsibilities often require "artistic ability." The duties that rely on this skill are shown by the fact that "industrial designers sketch their initial design ideas, which are used later to create prototypes." This resume example shows what lighting designers do with artistic ability on a typical day: "use of communication, creative vision, mathematics, and artistic skills. "
Computer skills. Another common skill required for lighting designer responsibilities is "computer skills." This skill comes up in the duties of lighting designers all the time, as "industrial designers use computer-aided design software to develop their designs and create prototypes." An excerpt from a real lighting designer resume shows how this skill is central to what a lighting designer does: "presented lighting concepts with cad drawings, computer illustrated mock-ups, and actual light samples at team and client meetings. "
Creativity. Another skill commonly found on lighting designer job descriptions is "creativity." It can come up quite often in lighting designer duties, since "industrial designers must be innovative in their designs and the ways in which they integrate existing technologies into their new product." Here's an example from a resume of how this skill fits into day-to-day lighting designer responsibilities: "tracked inventory for electrical contractors division and handled contractor sales as needed. "
The three companies that hire the most lighting designers are:
- Stantec8 lighting designers jobs
- The Walt Disney Company5 lighting designers jobs
- IA Interior Architects4 lighting designers jobs
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Compare different lighting designers
Lighting designer vs. Inventor
Industrial design interns will assist in developing product ideas while considering other criteria such as engineering, sales, marketing, and production. Interns are also tasked to come up with creative solutions to customer problems and dissatisfied needs, gather data by testing and validating ideas with the consumer research department, and prepare concept renderings with the right resources for marketing and sales presentation uses. A lot of firms accept interns majoring in industrial design, and some also accept those with other majors as long as it has a connection with the subject.
These skill sets are where the common ground ends though. The responsibilities of a lighting designer are more likely to require skills like "light fixtures," "leed," "agi," and "design layouts." On the other hand, a job as an inventor requires skills like "cnc," "r," "reverse engineering," and "prototype." As you can see, what employees do in each career varies considerably.
The education levels that inventors earn slightly differ from lighting designers. In particular, inventors are 7.1% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree than a lighting designer. Additionally, they're 5.0% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Lighting designer vs. Color expert
In addition to the difference in salary, there are some other key differences worth noting. For example, lighting designer responsibilities are more likely to require skills like "revit," "light fixtures," "leed," and "agi." Meanwhile, a color expert has duties that require skills in areas such as "color theory," "skin care," "product knowledge," and "store events." These differences highlight just how different the day-to-day in each role looks.
Color experts earn similar levels of education than lighting designers in general. They're 2.0% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 5.0% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Lighting designer vs. Color adviser
The required skills of the two careers differ considerably. For example, lighting designers are more likely to have skills like "revit," "light fixtures," "leed," and "agi." But a color adviser is more likely to have skills like "color coordination," "color design," "color selection," and "trade shows."
When it comes to education, color advisers tend to earn similar degree levels compared to lighting designers. In fact, they're 1.8% less likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 0.1% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Lighting designer vs. Industrial design internship
Even though a few skill sets overlap between lighting designers and industrial design interns, there are some differences that are important to note. For one, a lighting designer might have more use for skills like "revit," "photoshop," "light fixtures," and "leed." Meanwhile, some responsibilities of industrial design interns require skills like "industrial design," "solidworks," "keyshot," and "prototyping. "
In general, industrial design interns hold similar degree levels compared to lighting designers. Industrial design interns are 4.8% less likely to earn their Master's Degree and 0.1% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Types of lighting designer
Updated January 8, 2025
