What does a LD (Lighting Designer) do?

July 22, 2020
2 min read

In this article, we’ll explain what an LD, aka Lighting Designer, does. If you’re new to the industry and want to know a little bit more about what everyone does, we’ve got you covered. Keep reading to find out about the job of an LD (Lighting Designer).

Quick Answer: Lighting designers are involved in pre-planning for events and are responsible for creating the look and feel of the show’s lighting.

LD (Lighting Designer) Job Description

The lighting designer is in charge of the whole look for a show. For a festival or other temporary event, they’ll work with the client and set designer to come up with the fixtures and placement that achieve the desired goal.

Depending on the scale of the show, the lighting designer can sometimes also be the lighting programmer, but more often than not, they are just involved with the design, look, and feel of the show.

LDs attend a lot of pre-production planning meetings and are rarely at the venue when the trucks show up. Their role is primarily in planning rather than implementing the event lighting, certainly at larger events.

What Skills Does an LD (Lighting Designer) Need?

An LD needs to have a great deal of lighting experience and competency as they need to know what is and isn’t possible when they create the specification for different show fixtures.

Lighting designers also need to have excellent written and oral communication skills as they communicate directly with the client or production manager on a regular basis.

Equipment Used To Make The Accompanying Video

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