Collection display is the most basic function of a museum, and planning and implementing exhibitions with different themes is the daily work of a museum.

Use the analysis method of the checklist to study the basic situation and special needs of the project to determine the preliminary design direction. The inspection content includes:

What is the design style of the museum's architectural space? What design elements are there?
Exhibition theme, historical theme, art or natural science theme?
What should a specific exhibition hall give the audience when they visit and enter?
What is the light sensitivity of the exhibits? Is it necessary to have extremely low light levels?
The type of cultural relics, bronze, silk, pottery, or porcelain?
(Note that we usually say ceramics, but pottery and porcelain are different materials and require different lighting methods.)
The volume of exhibits and objects, are there large exhibits? Or combined exhibits? How many?
Is there a unique cultural relic or artwork that occupies the entire exhibition hall, and how does this exhibit become the focus?
Is the display cabinet the main display method? Is it lighting inside the cabinet or outside the cabinet?
Is the space empty and filled with light, or with discrete, highly dramatic beams of light in the dark?
Are the exhibits flat or three-dimensional?
Are there specific objects that require special lighting?
Are there special details or themes that can be revealed through specific lighting treatments?
Are the surfaces of the objects or artworks shiny or matte?
Are the exhibits colorful or monochrome?
How are the visual needs of visitors of different ages taken into account?
Are there rich graphics and text descriptions?

Lighting concept design is the process of addressing all priorities as well as technical issues such as curatorial requirements and heritage protection, as well as the expected aesthetic of lighting and how it affects the visitor experience. In addition to the lighting designer, other project design team members include the owner, exhibition designer, graphic designer, architect, electrical engineer, curator and content developer, all of whom bring different visions and priorities to the project. The concept design phase focuses on refining these factors into a clear, concise, and unified design direction, providing a brief descriptive summary as a reference for decision making.

1) Illuminance
2) Brightness
3) Color temperature
4) Color rendering index
5) Contrast
6) Uniformity
7) Light distribution
8) Glare control

To better interpret the unique charm of each project, the specific goals include:

• Determine the purpose of the lighting scheme: function and atmosphere creation
• Establish visual hierarchy: What should visitors see first when entering the exhibition hall? What should they see second? Use illumination, angle, and color tools to create focus, attract attention, and form visual guidance
• Balance between background light and accent light: Background light, or ambient light in public spaces, should not compete with accent lighting designed to create focus
• Appropriate contrast: Strong accent lighting can greatly attract attention. Differences in brightness help focus attention on brighter objects in the field of vision, while the contrast between light and dark can create drama and reveal texture. In order for the human eye to recognize significant differences, a brightness contrast of more than 2:1 is required. For example, if a highly light-sensitive exhibit can only be illuminated to a low light level, such as 50Lux, then the exhibit's environment needs to be adjusted to a lower level
• Good lighting speaks: All aspects of lighting design should fully support the overall goals of the project exhibition, and use excellent lighting design to help tell the story
• Budget management and cost-effectiveness: Using advanced lighting equipment with excellent light color, high efficiency, variable light type, accurate light distribution and support for multiple intelligent dimming can not only complete the lighting design with high quality, save a lot of reserves and daily expenses for the owner, but also is the key factor for the project to achieve high cost-effectiveness
• Maintenance and sustainable development: The lighting power density must meet the international advanced energy efficiency requirements, the lighting equipment must be easy to maintain, and the manufacturer must have fast and convenient service capabilities to ensure the sustainability requirements of the lighting project
• Spatial aesthetics: The lighting equipment is highly consistent with the architectural structure, exhibition hall space, and the style of exhibits and exhibits

After the lighting concept design is approved by the project team, the lighting designer will further develop and refine the concept, focusing on the project's schedule, sustainability and budget goals to ensure that the project's lighting goals will ultimately be met.

During this stage, the feasibility study and analysis of the lighting solution was completed. From the perspectives of aesthetics, cultural heritage protection, energy consumption, sustainability, budget, etc., the museum, curator, exhibition designer, architect, and electrical engineer were fully communicated and reviewed in order to accurately assess the impact on existing or under-construction infrastructure such as air conditioning, safety supervision, and fire protection, and finally implement the lighting solution.

During this phase, the lighting designer will complete:

• Determine the lighting method
• Select equipment
• Determine the location of lighting equipment
• Determine the lighting control method
• Full space lighting simulation (static or AR video)
• Illuminance calculation
• Glare evaluation
• Build a virtual typical scene and conduct actual on-site testing
• Overall equipment budget and operating energy consumption
• Maintenance requirements

After the lighting concept is transformed into a practical solution, the lighting designer should develop the design into detailed construction details and timelines so that the owner, project manager, contractor, electrician and manufacturer sales representative can review and understand it.
At this stage, the designer will complete and provide:

• Select the final equipment, quantity and create a lighting schedule, listing all relevant information (i.e. lamp model, optical characteristics, accessories or accessories and electrical requirements)
• Equipment installation instructions
• Lighting point map and installation method
• Detailed control diagram of the lighting control system
• Construction management plan
• Emergency response mechanism

After the construction documents are completed, the lighting equipment arrives at the project site according to the schedule and begins to be installed. The project team includes the owner, contractor, system integrator, electrician, and lighting manufacturer. Each party has its own key priorities. The lighting designer is responsible for balancing these key points according to the design plan to protect the design intent from unnecessary changes and achieve the overall project requirements:

• Respond promptly to on-site issues in all aspects of the project
• Review drawings submitted by the construction party and on-site drawings to ensure that the equipment and quantity provided are the same as the design plan
• Coordinate installation on site
• Check and verify that appropriate lamps are in the correct position and the correct light projection direction
• Start the debugging lighting control system program
• Lighting effect verification: for example, overall visual experience, whether all exhibition design elements are accurately illuminated, is there any unexpected glare, are texts and signs visible
• Maintenance training to ensure that equipment maintenance personnel know how to use and maintain the equipment

The installation and commissioning of lighting equipment is usually the final stage of a museum construction project or a museum exhibition project. The entire project team, including the owner, curator, exhibition designer, architect, electrical engineer, lighting designer and museum management team, has a project acceptance and handover process, and lighting effect is a crucial part of the project acceptance.

• Have the lighting design goals been achieved
• Are the owner and other design team members satisfied with the lighting effects
• Have all the completion documents been delivered
• Are there any countermeasures for possible problems in equipment use and maintenance
• Ensure service docking