Our continuing series of favorite light sources, described and illustrated (beautifully) by three of our designers.

Brian Orter

A halogen MR16 lamp.

“The Halogen MR 16 is my favorite lamp of all time. Most importantly it creates a sexy, dramatic light that reflects all materials almost as perfectly as the sun. It can be a narrow beam or diffuse blob. It can be direct view or completely hidden. It's my desert island light bulb. It's perfect for artwork, for people, and for food. A high quality one has almost perfect color rendering. It dims well, it's very small, can last for thousands or hours, and it's cheap. It can be easily manipulated by dozens of lens combinations, colored by thousands of filters and is highly efficient. Also, when it's done illuminating it will return to earth as sand.”

Garett Cohen

A halogen or LED MR16 lamp.

“My introduction to this lamp was during my days at the first lighting design studio I worked for, which mostly focused on retail projects. I was intrigued by the size of the bulb and how such a small lamp could produce so much light. I love the flexibility the MR16 affords with multiple beam spreads and its ability to change a space or make the object you are lighting more dramatic. I also feel the warmth of the light produced by the halogen lamp is bar-none still unmatched by its LED variant. But, with the advent of LED technology, manufacturers are catching up. Soraa’s snap system is the next generation of the MR16. A product that gives a designer the flexibility to be on-site and change the feel of the space with the utmost ease by snapping a magnetic accessory onto the lamp gets the thumbs-up in my book!”

Mai Shimizu

A halogen MR16 VNSP (very narrow spot) lamp .

“I still remember during my very first focusing job, my former colleague asked me to hand over “VNSP”. I had no idea what it was back then but after seeing what it could do, I became an instant fan of this odd shaped bulb that has the tightest beam spread of all MR16 lamps.”