Lighting Designers Have Always Worked Neuroaesthetically

Session details:

What makes some lighting truly resonate with us, and others simply “look cool” but feel emotionally flat? In this session, as a lighting designer, I will explores how lighting doesn’t just illuminate space, but also shapes perception and emotion. Drawing from the emerging field of neuroaesthetics, this talk invites participants to rethink lighting design as an act of perceptual architecture.

The session opens with a personal moment from The Lion King, where a single horizon of red and amber light created an overwhelming emotional response like you are in the middle of Africa, despite never having set foot in Africa. What was happening in the brain at that moment? What explains this impact of light?

By weaving together cognitive neuroscience, psychology, evolutionary biology, and design theory, I propose that lighting has always functioned as more than just a technical tool – it is a sensory medium that operates at the intersection of vision, emotion, and storytelling.

The talk will then explore four key case studies:
Cats the Musical - how blue light manipulates our circadian system (ipRGC) to simulate night even in a 2pm matinee.
The Lion King - the satisfaction of visual prediction — when lighting aligns with narrative expectation, the brain rewards us emotionally.
Sunset Boulevard - prediction error — where lighting’s ambiguity enhances attention and cognitive engagement.
Queen’s “We Will Rock You” - multisensory integration — where lighting and rhythm converge to create embodied audience experiences.
This talk is ideal for lighting designers, programmers, directors, and theatre professionals who want to understand why certain lighting moments work — not just technically, but biologically and emotionally.

By the end of the session, participants will walk away with a deeper understanding of how lighting can shape attention, emotion — and why, as designers, we’ve always been doing more than lighting the stage. We’ve been shaping the whole experiences.