The vanity is a critical part of the bathroom. Here, in front of a mirror, people shave, comb their hair, apply makeup and generally put on their game face for the day. Good lighting can increase the speed and accuracy of these tasks, while bad lighting can do the opposite.

Want to add a visual punch to a wall without painting it or hanging art? Try lighting it instead. Wall washing and grazing are two techniques that can add character to your room’s walls.

While light can be produced in specific colors for a special aesthetic effect, white light is the standard in home lighting. The choice doesn’t stop there, however, as more than one shade of white can be produced by light sources. This choice becomes particularly important when considering light sources such as compact fluorescent lamps, or CFLs.

Outdoor lighting provides safety and security, beautification of urban landscapes, advertising via illuminated signage, and enables a wide range of nighttime activities, from driving a car to watching a live baseball game. Unfortunately, not all outdoor lighting is designed responsibly, resulting in problems such as skyglow, light trespass and glare.

In this article we approach the science of vision and how the human eye deals with light, size, time, movement and color contrast.