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Artistic Licence Celebrates Twenty Years

Artistic Licence has been celebrating its 20^th anniversary this year, marking the time during which the company has evolved from its rock ‘n' roll origins into a company focused on architectural lighting and installations, whilst simultaneously developing its international presence.

Talking to Robert Bell in 2004 for his book Let There Be Light (Entertainment Technology Press), managing director Wayne Howell says: " I take the company name quite seriously. Lateral thinking is the most important part of a design...(in addition) you make it as future proof and reusable as you can."

By focusing on the two halves of the company - product development and project design and installation - Howell has developed a sophisticated and prolific product range which can be taken both as total solutions or as components for incorporation into individual designs.

Artistic Licence products cross conventional boundaries, moving easily between rock ‘n' roll and installation projects, from stage lighting to architectural control. Paramount amongst these is a range of control converters which operate across the platforms of Ethernet, DALI, DMX and RDM protocols, most notable amongst these being Art-Net, released as an interim, royalty-free, protocol to service the industry whilst it waits for ACN to be finalised.

Feedback has always been of prime importance to Artistic Licence's work. ("It's not just RDM and Art-Net that offers two-way communication!" states Howell.) It is the attendance at tradeshows and the feedback derived from clients, the involvement in industry trends (Howell has worked closely with ESTA on the development of DMX512-A and RDM) and the direct work on installations and projects which keep the refresh rate of product development high at Artistic Licence.

Recently Nich Smith approached Artistic Licence when lighting the John Murray Archive in Edinburgh. Using Candle-Power LED dimmers for the showcase lighting, Smith specified the Candle-Power dimmers for their ability to control both 1W and 3W LED fixtures in the same enclosure.

"It was particularly satisfying to provide these dimmers," says Howell, "since we had just launched the product when the project came up. The timing was ideal and provided the first sale for us."

Nich Smith has subsequently been awarded the 2008 Lighting Design Awards (Public Buildings) for his design for this project.

The celebrations for Artistic Licence's 20^th Anniversary are quickly to be followed by the launch of Artistic Licence Asia Ltd. Headed by Simon Fraser, the new company will build upon the earlier success of the existing sales office, taking Artistic Licence project and product solutions to a wider audience in the blossoming Middle East and Asian architectural markets.

The company has evolved from a long business relationship with Fraser of Ptarmigan Consulting, which included work on projects such as The Legend, Hong Kong, Songs of the Sea at Sentosa, Singapore and Galaxy Park, Tianjin. These projects, along with product sales in Korea, Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam, Macau and China highlighted the tremendous rate of development in Asia and the importance of becoming involved at a relatively early and exciting stage in the region.

"We took a couple of years to assess the market potential and to work out how we could work together," explains Howell. "We have now decided it is time to make it official and are very excited to be launching the company in Asia this April. Simon and I have a very similar, no nonsense, approach to business and the Hong Kong operation will be run in along similar lines to Artistic Licence in the UK. We will be concentrating on the two-pronged approach of product sales and projects. This will work very well in the Far East as, unlike us in the West where it is denounced as partisan, a specifier has more gravitas if he is backed by a closed relationship with a manufacturer."

After 20 years it is the personalities within the company, the connectivity with clients and close interaction with designers as they develop their projects which keeps Artistic Licence in the forefront of the industry. And as if that was not recommendation enough, 20 years after starting his company, Howell has just been added to Who's Who!

Footnote: Wayne Howell is the author of Rock Solid Ethernet and his latest title, Control Freak is about to be published - hopefully in time for an ABTT Theatre Show launch. Both titles are published by Entertainment Technology Press.

In picture: the Artistic Licence team and the cover of Wayne Howell's latest title.

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Artistic Licence Celebrates Twenty Years

19th May 2008

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