The Important Keys to Lighting Trade Show Booths

Never underestimate the value of the proper lighting of your trade show exhibit.

Creative lighting for your trade show booth is sure to lure more visitors. On the other hand, a poorly lit exhibit detracts from the trade show exhibit space and can leave it largely ignored. Your trade show lighting professional can use dramatic illumination techniques to create a show stopping effect or simply use lighting to highlight graphics and/or products.

It is essential for the lighting designer to know the exhibitor’s goals, exhibit design and budget before presenting lighting options. Once this is established, the trade show lighting professional can offer multiple options to maximize the visual appeal of the exhibit display.

By innovative use of different types of lighting, the same trade show booth can have a completely different look, effect and mood. There is a wide range of lighting choices ranging from a simple clamp on arm, to high quality fluorescent lighting, track or rail lighting, recessed lighting or fully programmable, changing color LED lighting fixtures.

Each of these forms of illumination serves a different purpose. The selection of the proper lighting product is therefore based on what effect the exhibitor desires to achieve.

For example, in the more decorative trade show booth using tension fabric, the fully programmable, changing color LED lighting creates a dynamic, dramatic effect that is certain to draw the attention of trade show attendees.

For a clean appearance in the same trade show booth, very white fluorescent lighting works well. If, however, dramatic shadows are desired, certain types of targeted track lighting may be preferred. Quality clamp on arm lights can be versatile enough to deliver good white light on focal points or to wash lighting evenly on backwalls. High quality white light ensures that colors and graphics are accurately displayed. Since light can also alter color, it is essential that your white light renders consistent and true color.

Keep in mind that when searching for the right lighting effect, there are a number of price options that can help you reach your goals. Be mindful that there are rental options available for very high end lighting that may be an appropriate way to satisfy your trade show budget constraints.

Rob Cohen, Vice President/Owner of Display Supply & Lighting, Inc. of Itasca, Illinois, offers examples of how a professional trade show lighting company can help you avoid two of the more common exhibit mistakes. They are:

1. Be aware of the electrical codes, capabilities and constraints in exhibit halls. Find out in advance what is allowed or disallowed in the convention hall to meet local lighting requirements. Find out requirements for exhibit halls whether they be the McCormick Convention Center in Chicago, the Kaiser Convention Center in Oakland, the Moscone Center in San Francisco, the Las Vegas Convention Center, the San Jose and Santa Clara Convention Centers, etc.

Be sure your trade show booth lighting products meet the exhibit hall’s specified criteria for trade show exhibitors. For example, trade show halls require 3- wire grounded plugs on all lighting fixtures at the trade show. These fixtures are not commonly available at large volume box stores.

2. Scope out the location of the exhibitor’s trade show site.

This is important as not all types of light bulbs are allowed in some facilities. Recent regulations restrict a couple of major conference facilities from using certain types of light bulbs often for safety reasons.

Cohen says it is critical that your exhibit house either understand their lighting options or have a relationship with a company that can advise them on trade show lighting opportunities and concerns.

Remember, lighting can either attract or detract visitors to your trade show booth. It is best to know what your exhibit display emphasis is and what your lighting options are before you design a lighting system for your trade show display.

How Can You Light Up Your Bedroom With Colored Glass Lighting?

The subtle and mysterious effect of colored glass lighting has mystified people from all over the world from antiquity to modern times. Colored glass lighting has the brilliance of gleaming color that are unmatched by any paintings or any abstract pictures because it derives its beauty from light. In the past, the use of colored glass lighting has been limited to windows because of its high dependency on natural light source. However, in recent years, you can observe that there have been drastic developments in the technology of colored glass lighting so its 800 year old role of being a window decoration has been expanded. 

Right now, colored glass lighting is being used by interior designers, architects, and other artists to increase the beauty of their surroundings. In public buildings as well as private homes, you can now see that colored glass lighting are being the centerpiece in making a building structure as beautiful as it is. 

Traditional Venetian Chandeliers

In ancient Roman times, glassmaking became one of the major causes of fires in Venice. For this reason, making glass in the Venetian area has been forbidden. However, instead of killing the industry, Venetian glass just became more exclusive because the secrets of their glassmaking techniques never went out. 

Traditional Venetian chandeliers normally have a classy design that is suitable for elegant and sophisticated homes. It is no wonder then that from ancient leaders of the past up to the modern politicians and loyalty prefer to use traditional Venetian chandeliers on their offices and homes. There are many designs you can choose from when you decide to purchase traditional Venetian chandeliers. You can be assured of its quality but you need to find the perfect design to suit the theme of your home. 

Murano Glass Chandeliers

The beauty of Murano glass chandeliers lies in the glass. When the Roman Empire introduced glasses around 2000 years ago, people in Italy have found ways to experiment and improve on its design. Because of this, the term “Murano” soon became associated with quality glassworks. 

Some Murano specialties include the lattimo and cristallo glasswork. Cristallo is the kind of glass that is perfectly clear and it is easily moldable when hot so designers can make incredible Murano glasses from it. Meanwhile, the lattimo glass has an opaque milk color to suit aesthetic purposes. Usually, the cristallo and lattimo glasses are combined together to form impressive Murano glass chandeliers with lace like designs and decorative finishes. 

When you combine Murano glasses and colored glasses together in a chandelier, the result is an amazing symmetry of colors that would give life to any room. In addition, remember that if you decide to buy Murano glass chandeliers, you are getting a top of the line product that can inspire artistry and elegance in your home. The Murano glass have also proven that it can stand the test of time so you can never go wrong when you decide to buy a chandelier that is made from secret Venetian techniques and great craftsmanship.

Few Reason Why Rustic Lighting Makes a Space More Welcoming

In recent years, a great deal of emphasis has been placed on modernization. This trend has affected nearly every aspect of every day life. Consider, for instance, the global domination of the cell phone industry, which feed newer, smaller, sleeker phones to the public on what seems like a weekly basis.

Or perhaps the fashion trends that are a constantly changing part of a popular culture that has embraced the fast lane with nearly religious fervor. 

These forces of 'progress' at work in society are seen in interior design as well. In this rush to the future, though, people tend to lose touch with concepts that have stood the test of time. The use of rustic lighting in interior design, for instance, is often overlooked.

Although it may be seen by popular culture as outdated, rustic lighting is a simple way to give a space a warm charm.

This simplicity is, in fact, at the very core of the concept of rustic lighting. There is a lack of lavish materials or intricate designs in the fixtures, and the methods of lighting are generally fairly basic. So why would someone choose this lighting style over one that might by more complex or striking? Simple: the style is extremely approachable.

A room that is lit with this style of lighting instantly seems much more welcoming than one which has a more modern feel to it. The room will draw people in and make them feel like they are at home. 

There are a few reasons that a rustic lighting design lends such a cozy, homey atmosphere to a space. The first is the lighting fixtures themselves. Rustic fixtures are generally made from simple materials, such as copper, iron, and a mineral such as mica, or glass, either colored or clear. There is usually no gold or silver or fancy embellishment.

While this may reduce the wow factor of a space, it also makes the space very easily related to. An area decked out with more fancy lighting may be a remarkable sight to behold, but in the end, when the initial impressive feeling wears off, it can often make people feel out of place. 

The second reason that rustic lighting makes a space more welcoming is the light itself. As mentioned above, many fixtures in this style use mica or colored glass. This gives the light in the room a tint, which will go a remarkably long way to change the atmosphere of an area.

Mica, for instance, has a rusty orange-brown color, which, when light filters through it, will give a room an earthy, warm tone reminiscent of the tone of a sunset or a fireplace. People naturally feel a sense of warmth and safety from these tones of light.

This principal, however, also means that rustic lighting is not the right choice for every space. The design and coloration of the room has to be compatible with the fixtures and the light itself if it is tinted, or you will end up with a space that is the opposite of what you had set out to achieve, in that the clash of colors or styles will make your room feel awkward rather than welcoming.

How to Setup an Website for Your Faux Finish Business?

Have you been losing faux finishing jobs to other contractors because you don’t have a website of your sample faux finishes yet?  Did you know that having samples of your finishes online could actually save you up to 10 hours a week that you could be spending on other tasks?

By setting up a presence on the Internet, your potential customers could look through all your samples at their own leisure before they pick up the phone to meet with you.  They would know, for instance, before they call that you are the faux finisher they want for that special “Old World Stone” finish.

In addition, your customers would be able to read testimonials from past clients to discover how talented you are.   They would also be able to read about your skills and training to get to know you as a professional artist.  You could essentially pre-sell your client before you ever meet them!

Your website should reflect the mood, style and design you’ve used in all your marketing pieces.  So make sure before you begin that you chart out exactly how you’d like it to look and the information you want to include.

Depending upon your website skills, you can either setup your website yourself or hire a website designer to do it for you.  If you have the expertise you can use website development software such as FrontPage or Dreamweaver to create your site.  There are also templates available through sites such as godaddy.com that offer quick and easy methods of setting up a website.  

Shop around online for a website designer if you’re looking for someone to design an especially creative website for you.  Just be sure to look at other sites the designer has created to make certain that they’re the perfect person to design your site.

If you’re on a tight budget, another option is to use an online photo site to create a unique portfolio of your photos.  Most of them are inexpensive to use and only cost about $20 a year to use.  The are very easy to use; simply upload your photos, select an album and you’re pretty much ready to go.  

Whichever method you decide to use, make sure you include your web address on all your advertising pieces.  So every display ad, sales letter and business card should show your domain name so that people can check out your work.

You could also send out a press release to your local paper announcing something new about your business and mention the website along with your phone number in the resource section at the end.  This would generate a lot of hits to your site.

I don’t recommend you waste money promoting your business online using pay per clicks, online classifieds or other such advertising as you don’t want to promote your business globally.  Your advertising money would be better spent getting listed in local business directories or chamber of commerce listings, both online and offline.  However, it wouldn’t hurt to submit your URL to the free search engines such as Google and Yahoo.

 

As you can see, setting up a website for your faux finish business doesn’t have to be a complicated endeavor and there’s an online solution for every budget.

How to Choose a Swimming Pool Enclosure That Are Right for You?

If you own a swimming pool, you know the pleasures of brisk morning laps, afternoons spent watching the kids splash in delight, and weekends entertaining friends out in the backyard. Yet, while the sun and water is delightful, maintaining a pool can be less than enjoyable - and mighty expensive. In addition to chemicals and cleaning supplies, there is the expense of heating the pool in the cooler months and the hassle of dealing with debris falling into the pool. After all, who doesn't dread the prospect of fishing leaves out of the pool in the fall and the murkiness of muddy waters after a hard rain? 

Thankfully, there have been great advances in pool maintenance, most notably in low profile swimming pool enclosures. Instead of the labor-intensive and messy process of covering and uncovering the pool with a traditional pool cover, an increasing number of pool owners are turning to swimming pool enclosures that are easy to install and maintain. A telescopic pool enclosure, for example, encloses the pool like a dome but is easily pushed back for full accessibility. 

When it comes to a telescopic pool enclosure, there are two basic types: one is installed on tracks laid on either side of the pool, and the other is trackless. In either case, the dome is tall enough (ranging from about 105cm to 185cm) so that you can open the hinged door and enjoy swimming even in inclement weather. Because it is built like a telescope, it's a breeze to push back the enclosure on sunny days.

These kinds of swimming pool enclosures offer more than aesthetic value, however. Your heating bill will be reduced, since the enclosures absorb and retain the sun's heat. You'll also spend less for chemicals, since there will be less water evaporation. One of the most significant benefits is that a telescopic pool enclosure has a child safety lock, which ensures that your pool is safe even when you're not using it. Chances are, though, that you'll be using your pool much more frequently, since the covering and warmth retention make the water inviting even when the weather's bad. 

Depending upon the size and type of the enclosure you choose, it takes two people anywhere from about five hours to about fourteen hours to install. When selecting a company that meets the needs for your swimming pool enclosures, choose one that will give you a head start in the installation process. The price of the enclosure should include all of the tools you'll need, perhaps with the exception of an electric drill. You should also receive a complete parts list and comprehensive, step-by-step illustrations of the installation process. The best companies will also provide you with a DVD that demonstrates the key stages of assembly. 

There's little doubt that swimming pool enclosures pay for themselves many times over, in terms of actual money saved and in terms of the increased opportunities you'll have to enjoy your pool. So dive right in and explore enclosure solutions that are right for you!

How to Choose the Right Contemporary Lighting to Create "Stylized" Ambience?

Believe it or not, even with a swanky, up market home, you will not be able to make much of an impression unless you have the right lighting to create that "stylized" ambience. 

Of course, choosing the right contemporary lighting is never an easy job. One of the most important aspects of decorating your home, it creates an atmosphere of warmth, comfort, and luxury. Lending itself to creating such a beautiful ambience is the technology associated with contemporary lighting. Today, it's easier than ever before to achieve things on a grand scale for the interiors of your home. Simply, flick the switch!

Whether you want to make your living room look dramatic or highlight specific decorative elements, or then you can even use contemporary lighting to disguise the flaws and simply emphasize the beauty. It's all in the switch! Proper lighting can really bring out the color schemes and create a mood that can vary from intimate to vibrant. You can have it all. Contemporary lighting is available in various shapes, designs, sizes, styles, and finishes. Choose bold metallic accents or smooth, transparent glass, or try the recessed or tracking lighting, contemporary lighting is the way to go nowadays. 

Interestingly enough, the concept of indoor lighting has been "in vogue" since 70,000 B.C. when man used animal fat in shells and rocks to create rustic oil lamps for lighting his cave. Then innovations happened and the first torch, first portable lamp, first designer lamp led to the current wave of contemporary indoor light fittings. 

Today, the choice of light fittings for both home and office use are limitless. Contemporary lighting essentials such as recessed cans and track lighting to wall sconces and chandeliers, to floor lighting options, interior lighting perform a range of functions and come in a mind-boggling array of styles suited to serve any and every individual’s purpose. Let’s take a look at why a well-lit home is attractive and how you can convert your home in a stylish and warm place that is the envy of all your neighbors!

It is all in the "Light" Design

So you've heard of fashion design, interior design, and even furniture design, but have you heard of lighting design? Probably not! But this is exactly what you require when choosing light fittings for your home. Lighting design can make your home look like a welcoming, cozy, and loved place or the complete opposite. Lighting design can also dramatically change the appearance of the beautiful decorative items you have on display and make them look stunning and eye-catching. No longer is lighting simply about get fluorescent lights fitted on your rooms’ walls. It has moved beyond direct light to address specific lighting requirements of each individual corner or area in the home. 

Visual Drama and Contrast

Every room should have the touch of visual drama and you can achieve these effects by creating some contrast. Creating contrast is the underlying principle of lighting design and is typically, achieved with the help of using different lights in each space. Let us take the example of your living or dining room. While a chandelier may provide ambient light, a recessed halogen light can act as a task light that emphasizes specific things in the room while wall scones provide respite and add the accent. 

Ambient light is typically, the general light source in a room; try not to make it your main source of illumination. Contrast your ambient light source with brighter task and accent lights that provide highlighting effects and powerful illumination for particular use. Key sources of illumination can be the task lights, which offer 6-10 times the level of ambient lights. Of course, the primary factors to consider when choosing contemporary lighting is to check the attributes each specific room. These attributes include room size, ceiling height, architectural features (bay window, dormer, etc), room décor, the amount of natural sunlight available in the room, and the strength of the bulb. 

Contemporary Lighting and Ambience

Contemporary lighting emphasizes clean, straight line, and a wide variety of metallic finishes for the bases. Simple white or off-white color globes are typical of this style, and provide plentiful ambient light without distracting attention from the key aspects of any space. The beauty of contemporary lighting lies in the simplicity of the design that is subtle and blend with the space making it appear warm, accessible, and user-friendly. 

While it is true that we have come a long way since the days of burning animal fat for illumination, but what hasn’t changes if our need for indoor lighting. Only now, we have contemporary lighting fixtures in a multitude of shapes, designs, and one for almost occasion. So when shopping for lighting fixtures ensure you buy the styles you think will suit your home's decor the best.