Faber_headshot_01

Hey. I’m Carl. I’m a visual designer and production specialist who often (but not always) works as a Lighting Designer for plays, musicals, dance, opera, and immersive environments.

My professional approach is centered around creative diversification, which, to me, means that I intentionally prioritize breadth and range in my work.  I’m excited by challenges. I enjoy solving new problems. I avoid slotting myself into specific tracks or grooves. Simply:

I thrive on variety.

This curiosity drives me to be a more engaged and versatile collaborator. I bring the perspective of someone who has tried different approaches, worked in diverse settings, and teamed up with a wide range of creative minds.

So, what do I do exactly? Well…

I'M MOSTLY A

LIGHTING DESIGNER

Spanning 20 years and hundreds of projects, I’ve spent the majority of my professional career designing lighting for live performance.

If there’s an audience involved, chances are, I’ve had experience with it:

  • Plays
  • Musicals
  • Dance
  • Opera
  • Immersive
  • Theaters
  • Concert Halls
  • Cruise Ships
  • Found Spaces
  • Digital / Online
  • Pacific Northwest
  • New York
  • Germany
  • Shanghai
  • Poland
  • Live In-Person
  • Film / Recording
  • Live Streaming
  • Asynchronous
  • Pre-Vis

My lighting design portfolio is available at:

Go to CarlFaberDesign.com

Associations:

I LOVE TO

SOLVE PROBLEMS

A key component of my career is regular and intentional deviation away from lighting to solve problems with other techniques and mediums.

I think of these multi-disciplinary skills as tools in a unique tool box I bring to every project:

    • When Bruce Springsteen‘s production crew needed to track financials, deploy a wireless network, and manage logistics: I JOINED THE TOUR
    • When The National needed a robotic camera operator for the projections in their live show: I DROVE THE ROBOTS
    • When 13EXP needed stylized motion content to guide a web-based immersive experience: I CREATED THE VIDEOS
    • When Woodshed Collective needed to track audience and performers in a one-on-one telephone performance: I BUILT THE DATABASE
    • When Portland State University wanted to produce student plays during COVID: I BROADCASTED THE STREAM

I'VE SPENT 20 YEARS AS AN

ASSISTANT LIGHTING DESIGNER

As someone who started out as an assistant, I strongly advocate for young designers to learn their craft and develop their skills through assisting.

But, turns out, I liked it so much, I never stopped.

I continue to enjoy supporting my colleagues, particularly on complicated operas and musicals, including:

On Broadway

The Book of Mormon
Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson
9 to 5: The Musical
August: Osage County

Regionally at

Portland Opera (Resident Assistant Designer 2017-Present), Ford’s Theatre, Hartford Stage, Center Stage, The Alley, Jazz at Lincoln Center, Playwrights Horizons, Seattle Opera, Williamstown Theatre Festival, Berkshire Theatre Festival

With Designers

Brian MacDevitt, Justin Townsend, Ken Posner, Rui Rita, Duane Schuler, Ann G. Wrightson, Ben Stanton, Robert Wierzel, Mark Stanley, Connie Yun, Mark McCullough, Don Darnutzer, York Kennedy, Christophe Forey, Paul Palazzo

I MAKE IT A PRIORITY TO

SHARE MY TOOLS AND TECHNOLOGY

I’m a big believer in sharing what works.  Throughout my career, I’ve benefited from experienced colleagues sharing their tools, methods, and workflows, and in that spirit, I try to be transparent about what’s most effective for me to create work.

I keep a comprehensive list of the applications and equipment I use in a Tools section of my design site:

Go to CarlFaberDesign.com

WHEN I'M NOT IN A THEATER, I'LL

BUILD WEBSITES

Design is, at it’s core, communication, and I’ve spent 2 decades developing internet-based methods of sharing and organizing information. Some of my recent work includes:

  • carlfaber.com (this site): the dashboard to all of my professional pursuits, including lighting, web design, assisting, and creative writing/thinking.
  • Carl Faber Design: my portfolio showcasing 20 years of work as a lighting designer for theater, dance, opera, and immersive experiences.
  • Design By Rui: a project portfolio for my colleague and fellow lighting designer Rui Rita.

With additional contributions to:

  • Woodshed Collective: as a collective member since the company’s founding in 2006, I’ve developed numerous online platforms for internal communication, digital collaboration, and purpose-built database solutions.
  • Rio Reveals: production design, image and video content creation and technical support for the 2021 web-based immersive production.

I HAVE SOME

THOUGHTS

I enjoy sharing my thoughts on the arts, technology, personal finance, and digital collaboration.  Some recent thinking:

For more on what I’m up to, follow me on: