28 interiors+sources august2017 interiorsandsources.com
By Daniela Marquez
With lighting technology devel- oping faster than ever, it is no wonder that more companies have taken the steps toward
LED, and now OLED, product development and
innovation. Visa Lighting, an architectural lighting
company based in Milwaukee, Wis., that prides
itself on American manufacturing, sustainable
practices, and commitment to high-quality
illumination products, is at the forefront of both
LED and OLED product development. While
most are familiar with the application of LED-based fixtures, OLEDs (Organic Light Emitting
Diodes) have sprung up for use in the A+D
market only within the last few years.
“OLEDs have widespread use in backlighting
phone and small display screens,” noted Jay
Eissner, senior research and development
engineer at Visa Lighting. “It was only in the
last two years that OLEDs bright enough to
practically illuminate a space have become
available.” These advancements in technology
have allowed Visa to release OLED-based
fixtures for general use over the last year.
This is not to say its LED research and
development strides have halted, as the
company is coming out with innovative
LED-based fixtures that allow for more user
control than ever before.
As illustrated in the timeline below, both
LED and OLED technology have rapidly advanced.
The industry can eagerly anticipate ample innovation in the new generation of products from
Visa Lighting in the years to come.
visalighting.com
Daniela Marquez graduated from the Savannah
College of Art and Design (SCAD) in 2017 with
a B.F.A. in Interior Design. She will be starting
her M.Arch at the Georgia Institute of Technology
this fall.
2001-2006
EXPANSION OF LED TECHNOLOGY
LEDs were typically coming from electronic
component manufacturers—not intended for
illumination. During this time, Visa Lighting
had research and development engineers
such as Eissner experimenting with color
mixing using RGB LEDs. Visa also hired a
dedicated LED product manager in 2006
to start overseeing the production and
development of LED lighting fixtures.
2007
FIRST LED FIXTURE SOLD
Visa Lighting sells its first LED fixture, a
custom mirror for a children’s hospital.
The company was asked to design a mirror
that emitted a warm glow of light from the
sides to function as a nightlight. LEDs were
selected for their long lifetime and low energy
usage; however, at the time, they were only
available in a cool white light. To create the
warm glow, a color filter was used.
2008
LED FIXTURE INTRODUCED AS A
STANDARD CATALOG PRODUCT
Visa Lighting introduces a standard catalog LED product,
a hybrid fluorescent/LED pendant. This was known as a
hybrid fixture due to its main light source being an indirect
fluorescent light while LEDs lit the luminous bowl on the
bottom. The reason for the use of both light types was
the high dollars-per-lumen cost of LEDs at the time. This
allowed Visa to get into LED lighting without creating an
excessively expensive product.VISA
Lighting
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