Technicians of Light – In your opinion, what makes us technicians of light?
It’s Jonathan Philips’ turn to talk about his sales perspective on the subject:
‘At Architectural FX we work mainly with the lighting creatives or architectural lighting designers to integrate linear lighting in furniture and buildings. So why the tagline ‘Technicians of Light?’ At a glance what we do is help designers solve technical issues and we engineer the solutions. This has been our expertise for many years and this knowledge and readiness to roll our sleeves up to solve the problem are what make us close partners to work with. Lighting is about Art and Science. We’re happy to be seen in both camps. This blog series delves into our team’s individual perspectives on our tagline and what it means to them’.
1. How does your sales team embody the idea of being “Technicians of Light”? – We view what we offer as solutions not products. Seeing things in this light (Pun always intended) allows us to be flexible to help match project requirements or help our customers overcome challenges they’re facing.
2. In what ways does your role contribute to creating or enhancing the experience of light for our customers? – Designers know how light works better than anyone. I happen to know how our products work and this enables us to collaborate and achieve things that wouldn’t necessarily have been possible without that joint knowledge. So many conversations over the years have started with “I want to create this effect. How can we do that?”
3. What skills, tools, or knowledge do you use that make your work technical or creative when it comes to lighting? When I first started out in lighting, I attended the LIF course for lighting design over in Enfield (I wonder who remembers when the LIA was the LIF?!) and this grounded me in the technical side of lighting which has helped me immensely over the course of my career because I can talk with designers on a level that not all sales professionals can. What I have also found is that having a strong technical grounding has enabled the creative side as well because it makes me aware of the capabilities of a product. My job has never been about creating the overall effect of a space but how to use products to help a designer be their ultimate creative self.
4. Can you share a moment or project that made you feel especially proud to be part of a company that defines itself as “Technicians of Light”? – I’ve
only been with Architectural FX for a few weeks so I haven’t had an opportunity yet to create those moments but one project that I will always be proud of is the Queen Elizabeth Hall on London’s Southbank. That project required a lot of coordination with the lighting designer, the joinery company and the contractor to design, build and deliver 3 bespoke light fittings to each of the 27 different-sized “pyramids” in the ceiling of the building. A testament to what can be accomplished when creative and technical excellence work hand in hand.
5. How do precision, innovation, and craftsmanship come together in your work? – Detail in lighting plays such a key role, whether it be wall to wall linear or millimetre-perfect joinery. The constant innovation involved to make these solutions as easy to achieve as possible for the designer and the end client is amazing. 20 years ago, when the first LED strips were coming on to the market and the cut points were 100mm (if you were lucky) and the profiles (where they were used) were bulky and the diffusers were so opaque, what you could do was so limited – although a marked improvement from trying to create detail lighting using T5. Fast forward to today and there are strips with cut points after every diode, Neon that bends in every direction. Colour temperature at every point on the scale between a candle and the sun. Then you have the guys on the factory floor with the steadiest of hands creating these fittings that have been specified with millimetre precision. It’s great to see.
6. How does collaboration between departments strengthen our role as “Technicians of Light”? – What I have noticed at Architectural FX is how closely everyone works together. So often it’s easy to have silos develop where departments get bogged down in their work. Here, I’ve noticed there is a constant stream of communication, information and idea sharing. An open office culture definitely helps that. It means everyone knows what’s going on and as we all know, knowledge is power.
7. In one sentence, how would you define what being a “Technician of Light” means for your role? – It means always probing for improving what we offer; be that optics, efficacy, Macadam ellipses. Lighting is an ever-evolving landscape and I need to make sure that the toolkit I’m using to help specifiers find their perfect solution is up to date and relevant.
8. How does the phrase “Technicians of Light” resonate with customers or partners when you explain our brand? – Architectural FX built its name in the alongside LED Linear as their UK partner. LED Linear defined how small form linear lighting was used. They set the standard back in the day. Now, the same founders of LED Linear have created APL and are looking to redefine architectural lighting and, as UK partner, Architectural FX are on hand to help shape how this plays out. In my short time at AFX, speaking to my old clients, who are once again my clients, this story of redefining how light shapes spaces – through this mix of technical excellence and creative freedom – plays strongly and there is comfort knowing that the same people who did it once are doing it again.
9. How do you communicate the technical craftsmanship and quality of our lighting products to clients? – The thing I’ve learned very quickly about Architectural FX product is that it truly speaks for itself. On-site issues are incredibly rare, and I can see that the company has put so much effort into their processes to ensure this remains so. From the 24hour burn-in on EVERY product that leaves the factory to the product label on EVERY product that leaves the factory. These little details mean so much to specifiers as it shows how much we care about the product we place onto the market and speaks to the high level of skill that goes into creating them.
10. What does selling light — not just lighting fixtures — mean to you? – It’s always been about allowing the specifier to be their ultimate creative self. Giving them a toolbox of lighting equipment that allows them to create exactly what they want to. I am an enabler.
