by Maggie Ward & Theo Zucker

photos by Jasmine Safaeian & Lauren Tepfer

No one who’s worked in entertainment recently needs to be told it’s been booming — they’ve lived it. From record attendance to record profits, the music industry has been running hot. 

For many music artists, touring is the main revenue engine. The pressure to deliver jaw-dropping experiences that are also profitable has never been higher, and every decision quickly becomes a balancing act between spectacle and sustainability. One wrong move and margins evaporate.

Lightswitch, a collective of internationally recognized lighting, media, and visual designers, works with artists to help them tackle this exact dilemma. 

“Tours today have three objectives: they have to be creatively compelling, they have to be logistically feasible, and they have to be financially viable,” says Lightswitch Principal Chris Medvitz. “Artists want to give their audiences an unforgettable show and maintain their reputation, and if touring is their main source of income, they have to do a lot more of it, which means more shows, more venues, and more constraints. But in the end, if a show doesn’t make money, the artist doesn’t make any money.”

Lightswitch has been practicing a solution to reconcile these often opposing goals for decades, an approach they’ve coined “pragmatic design.” 

“Pragmatic design means finding the balance between creativity, finance, and logistics,” says Principal John Featherstone. “We think of it like a Venn diagram…with each of those three areas as a different circle, and you try to get all three to overlap as much as possible.”

Central to this pragmatic design philosophy, says Senior Director Ignacio Rosenberg, is its ability to scale. “You hear about this way of working and the first kind of tours that come to mind are emerging artists with smaller shows. But actually, we find this has the most benefit for those big, stadium shows…If the budget is huge, both the show and the needs of the show are also going to be huge.” 

This design approach is exemplified in Lightswitch’s recent work on Halsey’s “For My Last Trick” tour, which opened in May 2025. With a tight timeline of approximately eight weeks from start to finish; a hyper-specific vision from the artist; and all the logistical and financial constraints that come with performing in mostly outdoor venues, this project presented plenty of challenges – making it the perfect candidate for Lightswitch’s pragmatic design approach. 

In fact, Featherstone attests, “this was a better example of pragmatic design than any other tour I’ve been involved with.”  

The show features an array of colorful wardrobe changes, video elements, and even pyrotechnics – all of which had to be cohered beneath Lightswitch’s lighting design. 

Although there can be tension between the creative, logistical, and financial aspects of a tour, the Lightswitch team most often sees issues arise because the lighting design isn’t considering the pragmatic needs of the project.

“It’s [about] operating without ego,” says Principal Tyler Elich. “Lighting design is an art, but we are not artists. We’re here to support the musician, and make them a hero. We’re not the hero…We’re the designer, the partner, sometimes the guide, and more than anything we’re their advocate.” 

But achieving this balance of creativity, finance, and logistics is not a one-size-fits-all solution. That’s why Lightswitch’s working style is very sensitive to the aspirations, values, and situations of the different artists they work with. 

“Obviously we always aim for as much overlap between [these aspects] as possible. But that doesn’t mean that a full overlap is the right solution for every client,” says Featherstone. “How much money do you want to make, what size venues are you doing, what are your goals, what would make it a win? That’s what we want to know: What makes it successful to you?” 

Because of the diversity of tours and artistic goals, that conversation element is key. Lightswitch says early, regular communication has been a common thread in their best success stories. 

With artists like Halsey, these candid and personal conversations are essential. Ultimately, the pragmatic approach comes down to creating a design that fits the artist’s needs. 

“The earlier we can be brought into the conversation, the better. Even if things are still moving around, we can start to lay the foundation,” says Rosenberg. 

Lightswitch will also be designing the tour for veteran Mexican rock band Maná later this year, as well as an all-new show for renowned composer and longtime Lightswitch client Hans Zimmer. This early communication strategy is already serving the team as they prepare to dive into these projects with such beloved musicians. 

“We have artists we’ve worked with for decades, and that’s because we aren’t here to push [them] into a bigger show than [they’re] comfortable with,” says Elich. “If I make less money but I build a partnership that is going to last, that’s a win for me.” 

And these longstanding partnerships also benefit the artist. According to Medvitz: “When we work together with an artist multiple times, we get to know them and their team. It makes it that much easier and faster to get a show up on its feet when you have that history.”

That’s the true spirit of pragmatic design – taking a realistic road to achieving artists’ creative dreams. At the end of the day, Medvitz continues, “we partner with artists and their teams to design amazing shows that are cost-effective and built for reality.”