Festive lighting is the art of creating decorations from garlands, static or moving figures, decorative light sources and attributes of a certain festive event (flags, stars, snowflakes). This kind of lighting looks appropriate both indoors and outside the building. However, it is not so easy to get an aesthetically attractive decoration, because you need to know exactly what types of decorative lighting can be used to decorate certain objects, and which ones are better to refuse.
Light decoration: how it all began
The concept of architectural, artistic and festive lighting originated quite a long time ago (about 100 years ago). Namely, in 1925, one of the districts of New York was decorated with the first spinning balls of light and bright illumination. At the same time, until 1960, such illumination was given secondary importance, since it was believed that its main task was to create a festive atmosphere and nothing more.
Of course, modern lighting during the holiday is significantly different from that whichadorned the streets of various cities about a century ago. Indeed, today an increasing number of people have begun to realize the role of festive and architectural illumination.
Differences between street and interior illumination
What is the difference between garlands and figures designed for indoor and outdoor use? Let's figure this out. Their differences are listed below:
- Price. Outdoor decorations cost an order of magnitude more than their indoor counterparts.
- Variety. Garlands designed for outdoor use have more choices in colors, shapes and sizes.
- Features. Outdoor garlands are able to function both indoors and outdoors, unlike interior decorations.
In turn, the high performance properties of outdoor garlands that create festive lighting and exterior decoration are due to the presence of a special insulating material on them (this can be rubber, PVC or silicone).
Types of decorative illumination
It is impossible to imagine festive lighting at home without duralight garlands, because they endure any natural phenomena (snow, rain) and allow you to decorate various vertical or horizontal objects. Scope of duralight garlands:
- pillars, columns, trunks of trees and shrubs;
- door and window openings, attic windows, roofs;
- driveways;
- creation of markinglights (for example, allocating a separate lane for Santa Claus's sleigh).
Also, to the indisputable advantages of this type of lighting, you can add the fact that the length of this garland is not limited by anything, therefore, it is selected in accordance with a specific task.
The presence of a controller allows you to create not just a bright, colorful illumination, but also a real color show. And the light weight of the garland eliminates the difficulties in attaching it (sometimes just using tape is enough).
Light grids - such a festive lighting design is a mesh structure made of wires, in each node of which there is a light bulb. Scope of use - any large objects: trees, bushes, garden figures.
LED rain is nothing more than LED filaments fastened together with a horizontal cable. The main area of use is the roof and facades of buildings.
Fiber optic lighting. In this case, we are talking about a thread made of a transparent material (usually plastic), which transmits light from a source using internal reflection. A large number of such threads, connected together, allow you to create various compositions, for example: "starry sky", "trees", "fireworks".
Fancy light decorations
Light figures on a metal frame are created on the basis of a regular or duralight garland. Most often, with the help of similar figures, a New Year's holiday is created.lighting: snowflakes, deer, Santa Claus's sleigh. This method of decoration is used on shop windows, bridges, building facades.
Acrylic figures perfectly imitate ice compositions. The scope of use of such light figures is simply huge, since there are a large number of options where they can be used. In addition, such compositions can have various settings, such as an on timer or a motion detection sensor.
Garlands powered by solar panels. The advantages of such an element of festive illumination include: safety, lack of dependence on electricity, ease of installation.
Festive Lighting Dynamics
All festive lighting is divided into four groups:
- chasing or flashing lights;
- fixing or non-flashing lights;
- chameleon or constantly changing color of light bulbs;
- flickering or selective flashing of certain lights.
At the same time, all options have the right to exist, because the scope of the use of illumination during the holidays varies. Let's say you need to decorate trees on city streets. In this case, flashing garlands will look more advantageous.
And if, for example, it is necessary to decorate the interior walls in an apartment or house, then it is advisable to use non-flickering lighting. It is less irritating to the human eye and does not distract from business. In turn, with the help of flickering illumination, effects such as “rain” or"waterfall".
How to create your own holiday illumination?
Known fact: properly selected festive lighting can not only evoke positive emotions in a person, but can also provoke him to a certain action. For example, yellow color improves mood, and, as you know, a happy, contented person buys more. In turn, green lights have a calming effect, while blue lights attract attention.
It is worth noting that holiday illumination is usually created by professionals in their field, however, such decoration can also be done independently, following simple rules:
- Don't create large holiday compositions without proper experience, as the result may not be very beautiful.
- Carefully study the technical characteristics of the garlands to understand under what conditions they can work most efficiently.
- Strive for balance, as a very bright holiday decoration can cause discomfort to passers-by or residents in a residential area.
So, the special attractive lighting of buildings and landscape during the holidays has not only an aesthetic function. This kind of illumination can draw attention to a particular advertisement or sign, mask objects at night that spoil the landscape, such as construction cranes, and emphasize the historical significance of a city or a certain area.
