Speaking as a lighting designer currently working on a design for a show, I have a “way” that I like to work when I’m in the math/design/drafting phase of the design process. Typically it involves my Sony MDR-7506 headphones, ignoring the cell phone, and jamming out to some random album that piques my fancy at that moment in time. A good friend and I had a revelation the other day that we both draft very quickly to Pink Floyd’s “Dark Side of the Moon,” for example. I can remember a summer season where I designed and drafted a four show run in two weeks nearly wholly to Pete Yorn’s album “musicforthemorningafter.” Weird.
What kinds of processes do you go through? What things are in order for your “design time?” Do you have a favorite beverage to have during design time, or a munchie of some sort? Another fellow designer friend likes to play old 80’s movies on a VCR in the background of her studio. What’s your thing? Please, post in the comments!
