Designing with Dialogue: The Lighting Designer’s AI Prompt Companion
How smart prompting transforms vague briefs into clear lighting strategies, bridging emotion, function, and context without opening a single lighting software.
Lighting Design Was Always a Conversation
Before the first render, before the light plot, even before the luminaire specifications are finalised, there’s always a conversation. Between the designer and the client. Designer and space. Designer and self. That conversation has now found a new counterpart: AI.
AI doesn’t work on magic. It works on clarity. And in lighting design, where one misplaced fixture can flatten mood or skew function, the quality of your question often shapes the result.
That’s where this week’s post begins.
A Starting Point for Lighting Designers
We’ve crafted these beginner-level prompt templates specifically for lighting designers and tested them across projects. They are simple, reliable, and flexible enough to mold to your design narrative.
This is not an advanced guide. This is the beginning of a dialogue.
How It Works: Asking Is Designing
Prompt templates are structured sentence frameworks that help conversational AI tools like ChatGPT or Claude respond in ways that are actually useful to your design work.
These templates:
Adapt to emotional tone or technical need.
Help you clarify your intent before even opening a design software.
Enable fast ideation without replacing your creative intuition.
And they work especially well for spatial thinkers: lighting designers, interior designers, architects, and visual creatives who balance concept with context
Six Ways to Shape Light Through Words
Each of these six categories includes a one-liner description, a prompt template, and a beginner-friendly example to try immediately.
Mood-Driven Design – Start With Emotion
Use this when you’re trying to shape the atmosphere more than illumination levels.
Prompt Template: Suggest lighting strategies for a [space type] that feels [emotional quality] during [time or condition].
Beginner Example: Suggest lighting strategies for a meditation room that feels grounded and introspective during early morning hours.
Function-Led Planning – Organise by Use
When tasks or user activity are the primary drivers of your lighting design.
Prompt Template: What types of lighting would you recommend for a [space type] with [functional zones or activities]?
Beginner Example: What types of lighting would you recommend for a public library with reading nooks, community meeting rooms, and a children’s storytelling area?
Narrative Lighting – Tell the Story
Great for those who need to articulate lighting design through presentations or concept decks.
Prompt Template: You are a lighting designer. Create a slide-by-slide outline for a presentation explaining the lighting concept for a [project type] with a focus on [theme or mood].
Beginner Example: You are a lighting designer. Create a slide-by-slide outline for a boutique mountain resort with a focus on warm, intimate evenings.
Client-Friendly Reports – Make Data Talk
Use this when you need to translate technical insights into client language.
Prompt Template: You are a lighting consultant. Explain this [simulation type] for a [project type] in simple language for a [stakeholder type].
Beginner Example: You are a lighting consultant. Explain this daylight and glare simulation for a classroom to a school principal who has no prior knowledge of lighting terminology.
Design Choices – Compare with Clarity
Perfect for exploring two different fixture types or strategies.
Prompt Template: Compare [option A] and [option B] for a [space type]. Include aspects like [criteria 1], [criteria 2], and [criteria 3].
Beginner Example: Compare recessed downlights and suspended linear fixtures for a design studio. Include aspects like shadow behavior, ceiling integration, and visual comfort.
Budget-Conscious Ideation – Work With Limits
Essential when working with tight budgets but high expectations.
Prompt Template: Design a lighting strategy for a [space type] with a [budget] and [design priority]. Recommend fixtures and layout logic.
Beginner Example: Design a lighting strategy for a yoga studio with a ₹2 lakh budget, prioritising ambient warmth and energy efficiency.
Each prompt has been selected for its ability to create useful, relevant responses for beginner-to-intermediate users. Use them as-is, or tweak them to fit your unique project.
How to Use This Guide
These prompts are not meant to be followed like a recipe. Use them to:
Clarify your design direction
Draft better presentation language
Educate stakeholders without technical overload
Co-create with AI during the early stages of a project
Whether you’re moodboarding, or exploring alternatives in a charrette, these are starting points.
That’s all for this week, folks.
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Want to Go Deeper?
If you want to learn the foundations of AI for Lighting Design, I’m thrilled to announce that we’re working on releasing a foundational AI course for Lighting Designers, in collaboration with one of the leading global experts, Martin Klaasen of Klaasen Lighting Design and Nulty+.
While we quietly work behind the scenes to bring you the best learning experience — combining Martin’s 40+ years of lighting expertise with my work in AI in Architecture and Design — here’s a sneak peek of what’s coming.
If this feels like something you’ve been searching for:
I’m Sahil Tanveer of the RBDSai Lab signing off for the week. I promote, consult, and apply AI for Architects along with my Architecture and Design Studio, RBDS. If you liked this Substack,
You will love my book, DELIRIOUS ARCHITECTURE: Midjourney for Architects. It is a 330-page hardcover showcasing the potential of AI in Architectural Design. It is available on Amazon worldwide.
You can bend your minds with our WhatsApp channel AI IN ARCHITECTURE where we talk about AI and its impact on us and the built environment.
You can consult with us on AI for your architecture studio. We have multiple levels of learning and integration, from a Beginners session to the AIMM Assessment and beyond. Get in touch with us at sahil@rbdsailab.com or check out our page www.rbdsailab.com
I’m talking about AI. Our team is set to visit key cities of India for architectural conferences, Podcasts and exclusive student interactions at architecture schools. We’d love to come over for an engaging meetup, hands-on workshop, or a creative collab. Enquiries to sahil@rbdsailab.com