Lightswitch announces that Howard Werner, formerly of hwdesigns, has joined its design team as principal designer along with original founders John Featherstone and Norm Schwab. Howard will be running the New York office of Lightswitch, which has additional offices in Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Orlando.
Howard brings over 20 years of lighting and projection design experience. He has worked on an impressive number of projects, and is currently designing the lighting and multimedia for a new play, Say Goodnight Gracie, directed by John Tillinger, scheduled to open on Broadway at the Helen Hayes Theater in October. Other theatrical credits include the 2001 revival of American Buffalo in London as well as designs for the Steppenwolf Theater in Chicago and the Atlantic Theater in New York. Corporate credits include McDonalds, Toyota, Ford, GM, Liz Claiborne, and Rolex. Howard has lent his creativity to numerous permanent and architectural installations, including EFX! at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, the Mazda Showroom in New York City, and Lights of Liberty, a lighting and projection attraction for the National Park Service currently in Philadelphia. He has just finished designing the architectural and theatrical lighting system for Cipriani 42nd Street, a New York City landmark now used as a special event venue.
"Howard is a perfect complement to Lightswitch's already strong reputation for designing dynamic, exciting, and innovative productions," says John Featherstone. "He brings a theatricality to our mix not to mention he is one of the most creative projection designers in the world," adds Norm Schwab.