Visual Terrain recognises Michael Mahlum for 20 years of service

Visual Terrain, a leading lighting design company, is celebrating Michael Mahlum's 20-year anniversary. Now principal designer and director of design and production, he is also responsible for managing Visual Terrain's growing portfolio of Live Nation venues; he initially joined in 2006 for a three-month temporary appointment.

Two decades on, in recognition of his long service, the company invited him to reflect on his tenure.

Speaking about what stands out to him as defining his experience with the firm, he says:

"The thing that defines Visual Terrain to me is the diversity of projects we do. As a multi-faceted firm that lights so many different types of projects.

"That's the defining piece of our art, and I appreciate finding project niches as much as not having a project niche."

When it comes to what he wishes every client understood about lighting design, he adds that, firstly, the team is dealing with the quality of the light, which is very ethereal:

"We’re not just dealing with equipment. While equipment is selected to solve the problem, in reality, we're looking at what the light is doing. I think a lot of clients struggle with this idea."

Secondly, budget can be a challenge: "Even when we have a set budget… by the time someone's willing to buy the equipment, and it's time to install it, chances are the costs or their budget may have shifted. I don't think clients understand these difficulties.

"Our repeat clients understand we're there to support the project, and also to support them regarding what is best for the project. We're not there to be an adversary with them."

See also: Lighting the way: Visual Terrain’s 30 years of creativity & innovation

From temporary to permanent

While Mahlum began his journey with Visual Terrain as a temporary hire, he soon realised that he was in it for the long haul, he reflects:

"About two months in, I started registering that it was probably going to be something more permanent. It wasn't definitive until I was asked to fly to Dubai [for a project]. This was the starting point for me, when I felt everyone was happy with where we were going.

"Later, we did a lighting update on the [Revenge of the Mummy at Universal Hollywood]. I had a day where we left the office at 2 pm, went down and rode the attraction for 2 or 3 hours until the park closed.

"That type of stuff makes you want to keep going."

Having been with Visual Terrain for two decades, he has seen many changes. He is also ideally placed to comment on the future of lighting design

"The biggest change has been going from incandescent to LED," says Mahlum. "The complexity of what we do has exponentially increased.

"In terms of the future, I hope that eventually, fixtures will get smaller, with the same output. I would love to get to a point where we could start working with downlights the size of a quarter. That would be amazing."

When it comes to the AI trend, he adds that he views it as a tool to solve problems, "But I don’t see it replacing us for a while, if ever, because of the ethereal nature of what lighting is.

"That doesn't mean that we won't see it used, and we won't see bad lighting because of it. AI will start producing lighting environments that are just bad, but no one will understand why. AI comes up with ideas that work in theory, but not in practice.

"I’ve played with it, and it fails miserably."

Looking to the future

Talking about some of the most impactful challenges that lighting designers face today, he firstly looks at wireless control, saying: "There is a lot of potential there. It works in a uniformly designed space, but when you get into unique spaces, it’s never an easy solve."

He adds: "One of our biggest hurdles right now is that [manufacturers] keep making everything brighter. The same LED spec is five times brighter [than it was a few years ago]. The problem is, some lamps are too bright for the required application.

"In my projects, nobody wants to see a downlight on the ceiling: They want what the light does, but they don't want to see the light. If the lighting I do is what draws the focus, that means we messed up."

On the production drafting side, he says that clash detection is an interesting trend: "I’m on the fence as to whether it really gains us much of anything, because I've yet to see something built identically to what is in the model."

Looking back at the journey, Mahlum says: "It’s been a fun ride. I’ve gotten to do some pretty cool things over the years. I sometimes don’t realize how crazy something is until I’m telling someone about it: “Sure, I did the programming on a volcano.”

"When my daughter was in grade school, she told her teacher that I was at the White House. The teacher called us to say, “Your daughter is making things up,” and my wife said, “No, that happened.” The idea of it is so fantastical.

"For me, some of the fun is that sometimes we're doing stuff that people don't register, but at the same time, it directly impacts everything they do in their lives."

Visual Terrain had a milestone year in 2025, reaching its largest size in nearly 20 years and hiring four new team members, bringing its staff to 16. The year also proved bountiful for industry recognition, as the company received multiple awards.