Lighting designer Mark Powell was asked to make the stand look dynamic, dramatic and cutting edge with the lighting - reflecting the profile of the show and the launch of the new model. The 'essence' of the lighting also had to highlight Lotus's sleek, high value brand image, and reflect the Lotus S's design philosophy of achieving performance through "added lightness".
The stand clean open lines of the stand were designed by Omni's. It featured the main care viewing area, and small VIP and coffee bar areas. A primary house rule of the exhibition was that nothing could be constructed above 5m high, so the stand architecture was low-lined and wide to increase the perception of lateral space. Powell chose his instruments carefully - 24 High End Studio Beam PCs, 12 Martin Mac 2000 Washes and 12 Mac 2000 Profiles, plus some well-placed ETC Source Four Parnels to key-light some of the cars. "It wasn't a huge amount of lighting" he says, "but each fixture had to be used carefully and precisely. Aesthetically I wanted to achieve a clean, classy and uncomplicated look," says Powell, adding that another lighting requirement was that it blended into the background and simultaneously accentuated the car details and general ambience. He used a combination of subtle coloration and different temperature whites, with the occasion splash of rich primary saturates.
The lights were operated by Dave Lee using a WholeHog II console, and Bandit's Tom Crosbie also crewed the 10 day event. The client was extremely happy, Bandit reports, and has asked Bandit to light its stand at the London Motor Show in July.
(Lee Baldock)
