This article addresses one of the most actively developing types of design activities – light design. The article comprises quotes of the leading Russian and foreign light design specialists published over the previous five years, as well as the authors’ own conclusions. The thoughts quoted in the article are sometimes opposite to each other and reflect the wide spectrum of professional practice. They reflect the initial opinions of analysts and experts which are often diverging. All of the specialists point at the interdisciplinary nature of the new profession, which imposes additional load on a designer overloaded enough already by the scope and speed of the problems being solved nowadays. The discussion of the new profession of light designer initiated on the pages of professional publications is especially important in view of the development of professional standards and standards of design and architectural education, as well as creation of new educational programmes based on various approaches to the subject in technical and humanitarian institutions. The goal of this article is to introduce light design into the field of fully legitimate sections of design culture, to define the authentic scientific basis of the new creative profession, to initiate a foundation for self-determination of the new synthetic area, which materially affects the state of the profession as a whole and the life standards of a wide variety of consumers. In order to reach the set goal, a comparative and analytical method of study was selected, which allows studying the problem to a large extent and from all angles and finding the ways of overcoming the challenges emerging in the area of the new activity.
