{"id":737,"date":"2015-07-27T08:05:57","date_gmt":"2015-07-27T14:05:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/night-scenes.com\/?p=737"},"modified":"2015-07-27T08:05:57","modified_gmt":"2015-07-27T14:05:57","slug":"art-vs-materials-in-outdoor-lighting-design","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/night-scenes.com\/2015\/07\/27\/art-vs-materials-in-outdoor-lighting-design\/","title":{"rendered":"Austin Outdoor Lighting Design"},"content":{"rendered":"
I had an interesting conversation recently with one of my landscape designer friends who frequently calls us in to provide outdoor lighting design for his projects. He told me that he was bringing me in on a very nice project, and the client enjoys the finer things in life.\u00a0 He then told me that this client would likely ask me what products I was specifying and then research those products himself to try to beat me down on my price for the complete project.\u00a0 My friend explained that this is what happened with the irrigation company.<\/a><\/p>\n This made me pause and think a little because it\u2019s not the first time I\u2019ve heard of this happening now that the internet has made shopping for materials pretty easy. \u00a0I gave my landscape designer friend an analogy that came to mind hoping it will help people see what goes into an outdoor lighting design and installation project.<\/p>\n Let\u2019s take a painting for instance.\u00a0 The total material cost for paints and canvas may be around $40. (We won\u2019t worry about the frame since most people frame the art to go with their d\u00e9cor and painters are not framers.) \u00a0So let\u2019s go to the art gallery and find a lovely painting for $40.\u00a0 Hmmm, we can\u2019t find any.\u00a0 Let\u2019s add in $20 per hour labor into that painting.\u00a0 Heck, it probably took that person a couple of days to complete the art piece, right?\u00a0 So now we\u2019re up to $200!\u00a0 Surely we\u2019re going to find a nice painting at this gallery for that.\u00a0 Well, maybe not.\u00a0 So, why are these paintings so darn high?\u00a0 There\u2019s hardly any material cost and the artist shouldn\u2019t need to make too much money, right?<\/p>\n What some consumers forget is what it really takes to create that piece of art.\u00a0 That artist has many years of their life invested in learning their craft.\u00a0 How many years did they struggle to make a buck before they were able to sell anything that they created?\u00a0 How much time and cash did they spend in art school learning how to mix their paints just right so they could get that perfect final color?\u00a0 What tools and skills took them from being someone who put paint on canvas to being an artist?\u00a0 What reputation does that artist have now?\u00a0 What do paintings normally sell for these days?\u00a0 All of these factors go into that price tag on that one painting in the art gallery.<\/a><\/p>\n I explained to my friend that I do not sell light fixtures, wire, transformers and other items; I sell a Night Scene.\u00a0 I sell ambience in a space.\u00a0 I sell the years of experience it has taken to learn the outdoor lighting design craft.\u00a0 I sell the outdoor lighting schools that I\u2019ve attended all over the country.\u00a0 I sell the reputation of NightScenes Landscape Lighting Professionals.\u00a0 You can\u2019t find internet pricing on those things.\u00a0 A light fixture is simply a lifeless light fixture.\u00a0 If you don\u2019t know which fixture to use and where, it\u2019s not going to do you much good simply standing in your yard.\u00a0 If you don\u2019t know the lumen output that you need from a certain fixture, it won\u2019t highlight your focal points.\u00a0 If you don\u2019t know what beam spread that fixture needs to produce in a certain setting, it can\u2019t bring life and depth to your landscape at night.\u00a0 If you don\u2019t know where to place that fixture, you won\u2019t be able to achieve the security and beautiful ambience you desire.<\/p>\n If you buy a bunch of paints, can you bring them home and create the exquisite art piece on canvas that you want?<\/p>\n An artist knows what color paint to use and where to use it to create an emotional response in the person viewing the painting.\u00a0 A good outdoor lighting designer does the same thing with light.\u00a0 The cost of the paints or light fixtures doesn\u2019t figure into the \u201cpicture\u201d really, it\u2019s what you have when the painting is completed that matters most.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Good Outdoor Lighting Design is Art You Can Live In I had an interesting conversation recently with one of my landscape designer friends who frequently calls us in to provide outdoor lighting design for his projects. He told me that he was bringing me in on a very nice project, and the client enjoys the … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":739,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[176,27,20,11,5,23,94],"tags":[8,383,219,384,6],"yoast_head":"\n