Christa Pineda Named People's Choice Award Winner

Earlier this year, Golden Lighting teamed up with Florida State University faculty members, Dr. Jill Pable and Amy Huber of the Department of Interior Architecture & Design to host a collegiate-level lighting design competition. Lighting Fundamentals students led by Dr. Jill Pable who were also enrolled in Professor Amy Huber’s CAD2 course were asked to design LED bath fixtures.

Judged based on creativity, functionality, and marketability, three winners of the contest were announced this summer. Golden Lighting later announced a plan to ask retailers and sales representatives in the lighting community to vote for their favorite design to determine the winner of Golden Lighting’s People’s Choice Award.

This summer, during June Lightovation, Golden Lighting displayed all of the FSU students’ lighting designs in its showroom at the Dallas Market Center. All of the concept boards were displayed and Golden Lighting showroom visitors were given an opportunity to vote.

Congratulations to Christa Pineda, creator of the “Infinity” sconce and winner of Golden Lighting’s People’s Choice Award. Ms. Pineda was also awarded Honorable Mention by Golden Lighting judges during the initial lighting design contest.

“We would like to thank Dr. Jill Pable, Professor Huber and all of the FSU students who participated in this year’s contest. We are excitedly looking forward to next year,” said Golden Lighting’s Creative Director, Danielle Dzurik.

Golden Lighting and FSU Lighting Design Competition 2017

This year, Golden Lighting teamed up with the staff and students of Florida State University for its lighting design competition. FSU students were invited to design LED bathroom fixtures. Students were taught the basics of lighting design and asked to use what they learned to create a design. Contestants were judged based on the creativity, functionality, and the marketability of their products. “We learned a lot the first year,” said Golden Lighting’s Product Design Manager and contest judge, Danielle Dzurik. She continued, “One of the most important things was that we needed to very clearly state our requirements and expectations. We chose to work with Florida State University because the school has a great design program and it is local”. All of the design concepts are on display in Golden Lighting’s Dallas showroom. The winners of the contest were recently announced. Golden Lighting awarded a cash prize to First-Place winner Brianna Langman for her design, Vertex. A prototype of the design hangs with the concept board. “The design impressed because of its ability to take the environmental consideration of the bathroom mirror into account and use it as a design feature,” said Dzurik. The two honorable mentions, Shannon Burger and Christa Pineda each received gift cards for their designs.

What Customers Say About Golden Products

What do a lot of buyers do before making an important purchase? We look around to see what’s available. We find what we like, compare that item to others based on price and features. BUT, before making that final purchase, many of us check the reviews. Product reviews allow us to see right on the product page what verified buyers have to say. These reviews can lend insight that goes far beyond marketing text, dimensions, or product photography. Reviews are helpful to shoppers, but can also be useful to the creators of the products. Here at Golden, we attempt to remain tuned in to the needs and desires of our customers. What do customers say about Golden Lighting products? Well, to find out, we read and analyzed our online product reviews. This allowed us to see our strengths and in a few cases, our opportunities for improvement. Just for fun, we took 5,600 of our online product reviews and created this word cloud. The larger the word in the cloud, the higher the frequency of use by our product reviewers. To those who take the time to write product reviews, we would like to say thank you for your business, your feedback, and your awesome reviews!

Golden Lighting and University of Central Oklahoma Lighting Design Contest

Earlier this year, Golden Lighting partnered with the University of Central Oklahoma’s Interior Design Department for a lighting design contest. The contest challenged sophomore design students led by professor Mary Katherine Crouch to create a wall sconce or bath vanity light fixture on-trend with today’s home fashions. Students were asked to come up with fixtures that were LED either by native sources or through retrofit LED bulbs.

The contest consisted of several phases or rounds. Students were asked to hand-sketch and then use newly-learned software to present their concepts to judges. To simulate a professional design experience, design students received feedback throughout the process allowing them to refine their designs after each round. Entrants were judged based on the creativity, functionality, and overall marketability of their products. “It was a hard decision,” said Golden Lighting Design Manager and contest judge, Danielle Dzurik. “Throughout the process, we saw a lot of inspired designs. The students were issued a challenge and had a really creative response,” said Dzurik.

Who were the winners and what did they win? Two winners were selected. Honorable mention and runner-up, Hangyeol Jeong received a cash prize for his Tropazoid design. His concept is on display in the Golden showroom. Sophomore interior design student, Nadia Beg received first place for her Moon Dance Lighting sconce. Her design concept and prototype were displayed in the Golden Lighting showroom for the Dallas Market Center’s 2016 June Lightovation. The dimmable LED wall sconce features a unique, jewelry inspired silhouette that is new to the lighting market. With a round opal diffuser and trendy gold finish, the geometric design combines sophisticated beauty with functionality.

“Buyers fell in love with the design," said Dzurik. As a result of the positive response to Nadia’s prototyped design, Golden Lighting is currently investigating/evaluating manufacture of the fixture. “We have gotten such a positive response from both the students and our customers that we are looking into running the contest again,” said Dzurik.

Golden Lighting Becomes the Newest Lighting One Vendor

Steve Falk, Golden Lighting’s VP of Sales has focused on increasing market penetration. When hired, Falk agreed to oversee and grow Golden Lighting’s showroom sales channel. His customer-centric approach to sales has led to Golden Lighting becoming the newest Lighting One vendor. “Golden Lighting is a great company with great product and great people. We want to make sure that we form valuable, long lasting relationships and we are sure that we have done so in our new partnership with Lighting One,” says Falk.

The Lighting One Cooperative is comprised of over 240 independent lighting showrooms located throughout the United States and Canada. Falk says, “Lighting One’s belief in strong Showroom Members is in perfect alignment with the core vision of Golden Lighting.” Lighting One’s members should be aware that Golden Lighting has taken a very aggressive approach as a Lighting One supplier and powerful benefits are available. Members of the Lighting One Cooperative have access to the industry’s top manufacturers and now Golden Lighting has joined the ranks.