Lightswitch
Lightswitch is a New York-based lighting, media, and visual design firm operating six global studios. It serves enterprise clients across entertainment, museums, corporate, hospitality, and trade shows, delivering project-based creative design services including touring concerts, theme parks, and conservation-sensitive museum exhibits.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded1993
- HeadquartersNew York, United States
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingServices
What Lightswitch does
Lightswitch is a privately held professional design services firm founded in 1993 and headquartered in New York, with 11–50 employees operating across six studios in Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, Orlando, and Hong Kong. The company provides three integrated core services — Lighting Design, Media Design, and Visual Design — serving enterprise clients in entertainment (concerts and tours for artists such as Hans Zimmer, Beck, and Karol G; theme park operators like Disney and Universal Studios), museums and cultural institutions (Yale Peabody Museum, Art Institute of Chicago, Shedd Aquarium, Kennedy Space Center, Vatican Splendors, Machu Picchu touring exhibitions), corporate and hospitality (Apple, Microsoft, Samsung, Wynn, Gaylord Hotels, McDonald's, NBA), and trade shows/exhibitions (Zimmer Biomet, Hyundai, Subaru, Cisco).
Technically, Lightswitch combines theatrical and architectural lighting approaches, integrating cutting-edge LED solutions (tunable LED PAR lamps, RGB LEDs, energy-efficient theatrical fixtures) with conservation-sensitive lighting methods for museums and cultural artifacts. The Media Design offering blends video with lighting for integrated visual storytelling, while Visual Design provides holistic creative direction. The firm operates a project-based business model, with pricing not publicly disclosed, acquiring work through direct client engagement, portfolio reputation, and industry referrals rather than through a software product or subscription.
Lightswitch is structured as a collective of designers, with leadership including Principals/Managing Directors Tyler Elich and Norm Schwab. The firm has received industry recognition from the Illuminating Engineering Society, Themed Entertainment Association (THEA), and American Alliance of Museums, and completed an acquisition of Orangelite in January 2019.
Lightswitch firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Lightswitch
- Legal name
- Lightswitch
- Website
- https://lightswitch.net
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 1993
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- Lightswitch is a New York-based lighting, media, and visual design firm operating six global studios. It serves enterprise clients across entertainment, museums, corporate, hospitality, and trade shows, delivering project-based creative design services including touring concerts, theme parks, and conservation-sensitive museum exhibits.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Lightswitch industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Lighting and Visual Design Services
- NAICS
- Graphic Design Services (541430)
- SIC
- Services-Allied To Motion Picture Production (7819), Services-Motion Picture & Video Tape Production (7812)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Lighting Design Services (BPAHAKAJ)
Keywords
Where Lightswitch is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- New York
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices6 records
Markets served
Lightswitch business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure
Distribution channels1 record
Marketing channels7 records
Lightswitch product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Lightswitch is a collective of internationally recognized lighting, media, and visual designers delivering professional design services for concerts, tours, museum exhibits, theme parks, corporate events, trade shows, and architectural installations. The firm operates from six global studios and provides end-to-end project delivery from concept through installation, integrating lighting, media, and visual design disciplines across entertainment, cultural, and corporate sectors.
Product overview
Lightswitch is a collective of internationally recognized lighting, media, and visual designers offering three core service disciplines: Lighting Design, Media Design, and Visual Design. The company operates as a design services firm rather than a software product, providing services across experiences, entertainment, events, museums, and architecture sectors. Their work spans museum exhibit lighting, concert/entertainment touring productions, trade show exhibits, and architectural installations.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Lighting Design
Companies that use Lightswitch
Customer profileNamed customers25 records
Segments5 records
Ideal customer profiles4 records
Lightswitch technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature5 records
Lightswitch partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Eleven partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.
- Hamilton ExhibitscoreLongtime partnership with Hamilton Exhibits for trade show booth installations. Worked together on multiple Zimmer Biomet AAOS conference booths (2014, 2019, 2023), creating multi-faceted exhibit designs with strong design collaboration from rendering through final build.
- Video WestcoreOngoing partnership with Video West for video installations and technical integration. Collaborated on Zimmer Biomet booths creating video installations that assisted with wayfinding and cohesive video surfaces spanning multiple television units.
- Reich & PetchcoreKey team member partnership on the Yale Peabody Museum renovation project. Collaborated on designing lighting for the museum's entirely reconceived exhibit halls, overseeing cohesion and unity of design across all three floors of galleries.
- Falcon's Tree HousecoreLongstanding collaboration with Falcon's Tree House (themed entertainment design company) on multiple projects including Singapore Science Center iSpace exhibit. Worked together to animate spaces with color and movement, integrating lighting with show control systems.
- Delphi ProductionsminorLong history of collaboration with Delphi Productions on museum and science center projects including Denver Museum of Nature & Science Space Odyssey exhibit.
- Arts & Exhibitions InternationalcorePartnership on touring exhibitions including Tutankhamun - The Golden King and the Great Pharaohs world tour. Responsible for lighting design and complete lighting system specification for 5-year international tour.
- Evergreen ExhibitionscorePartnership on Vatican Splendors touring exhibition. Worked closely to present the exhibit in respectful, beautiful, and dramatic fashion while respecting conservation requirements.
- West Office Exhibition DesigncoreLongtime collaboration with West Office on museum exhibits including California Museum Health Happens Here. Provided exhibit lighting design to support educational goals.
- StimulantminorPartnership on Reagan Ranch Center Berlin Wall exhibit. Worked with experience design agency to create impactful and immersive exhibit using interactive touchscreens, directional audio, and dynamic lighting.
- RotocorePartnership with museum design/build firm on National Museum of Military Vehicles Korean and Vietnam War exhibit. Combined expertise to create immersive storytelling environments.
- World Heritage Exhibitions / CityneoncorePartnership on touring exhibitions including Machu Picchu and the Golden Empires of Peru. Designed exhibit lighting and integrated truss system for traveling galleries.
Scale indicators3 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights5 records
Lightswitch competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Fisher Marantz Stone: A long-established New York-based architectural lighting design firm with a comparable portfolio of museum, civic, hospitality, and entertainment projects. Direct competitor for the same blue-chip institutional clients and similar IES/Award-recognized work.
- Schuler Shook: Chicago-based lighting design practice with deep experience in museums, performing arts, and architectural lighting. Highly comparable in craft focus, project types, and award-winning museum and theatre lighting work.
- Horton Lees Brogden Lighting Design: Architectural lighting design firm with a similar mix of cultural-institution, civic, and commercial projects. Competes with Lightswitch for museum, library, and public-space commissions.
- Tillotson Design Associates: Boutique architectural lighting design firm with a comparable focus on museums, galleries, and high-end cultural projects. Direct peer in the conservation-sensitive lighting niche.
- Cline Bettridge Bernstein Lighting Design: New York-based architectural lighting design studio serving museums, performing arts, and commercial clients. Directly comparable in scale, project mix, and craft-based service model.
- Available Light: Boutique theatrical and architectural lighting design firm with significant museum and entertainment experience. Comparable in service scope (lighting + media integration) and target verticals.
- Thinkwell Group: Experience design and production company that designs and builds themed attractions, museums, and brand experiences. Overlaps directly with Lightswitch on theme parks, museums, and immersive environments.
- Falcon's Treehouse: Themed entertainment design and production firm specializing in theme parks, museums, and immersive attractions. Already a named strategic partner of Lightswitch on projects like Singapore Science Center iSpace, and a direct competitor for themed entertainment lighting commissions.
- Weta Workshop: Creative design and effects studio for film, theme parks, and immersive experiences. Competes for museum, themed entertainment, and experience-design work that spans lighting, media, and visual design — the same scope as Lightswitch.
Broad incumbents
- Arup Lighting Design: Global engineering and design consultancy with a substantial architectural lighting practice serving museums, transport hubs, and cultural institutions. Larger and broader, but competes for the same institutional museum and architectural lighting commissions.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat4 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Lightswitch social profiles
Digital presenceLightswitch financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Lightswitch leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles13 records
Lightswitch funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Lightswitch M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A1 record
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Lightswitch
What does Lightswitch do?
Lightswitch is a collective of internationally recognized lighting, media, and visual designers delivering professional design services for concerts, tours, museum exhibits, theme parks, corporate events, trade shows, and architectural installations. The firm operates from six global studios and provides end-to-end project delivery from concept through installation, integrating lighting, media, and visual design disciplines across entertainment, cultural, and corporate sectors.
Is Lightswitch a public or private company?
Lightswitch is a private company. It is classified as unknown and is currently operating.
When was Lightswitch founded?
Lightswitch was founded in 1993. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is Lightswitch based?
Lightswitch is headquartered in New York, United States, in the North America region.
Who are Lightswitch's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Fisher Marantz Stone, Schuler Shook, Horton Lees Brogden Lighting Design, Tillotson Design Associates, Cline Bettridge Bernstein Lighting Design, Available Light, Thinkwell Group, Falcon's Treehouse and Weta Workshop. Arup Lighting Design is listed as a broad incumbent.
Does Lightswitch have an API?
No public API is recorded for Lightswitch.
What industry is Lightswitch in?
Lightswitch's product category is Lighting and Visual Design Services. Its primary akta.pro industry code is BPAHAKAJ, Lighting Design Services. Its NAICS code is 541430 and its SIC code is 7819.