Amplified Lifestyles is fortunate to collaborate with many elite industry partners on their projects. One of these is the lighting designer Eric Johnson of EJA Lighting Design. Lighting was Eric’s destiny as his father, Merlin Johnson, invented, developed, and manufactured an optical lighting framing projector in 1969 for fine art. Today, EJA Lighting Design’s portfolio ranges from a fanciful Victorian-styled Sonoma Valley Lake House designed by Ken Fulk to EYRC Architects’ award-winning modernist home in Palo Alto. Amplified Lifestyles worked on both projects, and the two teams blended aesthetics with technology while focusing on the client experience.
AL: Your lighting legacy extends beyond your father, Merlin Johnson, to his mentor, Rudolf Wendel. Did you always want to be a lighting designer?
EJ: I started working in my father’s business in high school, so I was interested in the lighting and electrical world from the start. At the time, I wasn’t sure where it would lead, but over the years, it was clear that lighting design was where I wanted to go.
AL: With your origin story starting in art lighting, what are your thoughts on Ketra’s abilities to illuminate art and residences?
EJ: Ketra has elevated the LED color and control options beyond what has been done in the past. It can be an excellent tool for art lighting to enhance all types of art, but the lighting also needs to be designed by a true lighting professional for the best outcome.
AL: What have been the most significant changes in lighting design over the last forty years?
EJ: The big ones are energy codes (i.e., Title 24), lighting product technologies (i.e., halogen, fluorescent, LED), and lighting controls. Lighting design has become a highly technical field that requires constant product knowledge updates and very detailed integration into the architecture. Also, project teams are much larger, which requires a higher level of collaboration in terms of frequency, efficiency, and setting expectations.
AL: How do you balance the artistry of lighting with technology?
EJ: There are a lot more tools to work with than in the past, which opens up more opportunities to create the design you are after. Architecture and interiors have also gotten more diverse, so there is also more opportunity to be creative with lighting. From my perspective, it is important to keep in mind that even though there are many new lighting solutions, try to be thoughtful and not to overdo it (bling).
AL: How does the lighting designer coordinate with the architect, interior designer, builder, and systems integrator?
EJ: We take the team approach very seriously to achieve the best outcome. Each design/construction discipline requires intentional effort to get to know the teams and understand how to best merge all the information to achieve the desired result. Ongoing relationships are beneficial in strengthening the team and the process. We are very fortunate to have had so many great collaborators to work with over the many years.
AL: What questions do you ask the homeowner to determine how they want to live with lighting?
EJ: There are many questions to ask at the beginning of the process. The first question is, what knowledge do they have about lighting and controls, and what have their experiences been like in the past, good or bad? We then dive deep into all aspects of lighting and controls to gather as much information about their intent as possible before starting the process. The more experience you have with different clients, the better you become at obtaining the information you need.
AL: What was your favorite job?
EJ: It is hard to come up with just one, but one of my first major residential projects was with Ricardo Legorreta, who was one of the top architects in the world at the time. The owner had confidence in me and said that I would be taking over the lighting design. It was an amazing experience all around, and it didn’t hurt that they had a world-class art collection.
AL: Where do you see lighting design going in the next decade?
EJ: LED technology and lighting control will continue to improve, but they will also become more technical. Energy codes and dark sky compliance will continue to have a big impact on all aspects of design. AI is starting to impact certain levels of design, and I assume that will continue in the future for all aspects of design.
