Faber_headshot_02

Hi, I’m Carl.

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

My professional approach is rooted in creative diversification—working across theatrical design, digital production, and immersive storytelling. I intentionally prioritize breadth and range, bringing a unique set of skills to each new challenge.

I thrive on variety. It keeps me engaged and makes me a more versatile collaborator—someone who’s explored different approaches, in many places, with a wide range of creative minds.

So, what do I do exactly? Well…

HERE'S WHAT I'VE BEEN UP TO

RECENTLY

  • Connected audiences and performers in 3 continents as Technology & Live Video Designer for How To Be A Visitor at ADF. [Review]
  • Celebrated 6 months as Director of Operations at Culture House Immersive.
  • Put my French skills to use as a Location Gaffer for NBC at Le Golf National for the 2024 Paris Olympics.
  • Finished my 9th season as Lighting Supervisor at Portland Opera.
  • Supported Rui Rita, my friend and colleague of over 20 years, as his Associate for The Tale of Moana aboard the Disney Treasure.
  • Designed my 12th show at Broadway Rose, Grease, directed by the brilliant Sarah Jane Hardy.
  • Created an evolving luminous environment for Erik Mattson’s huge LEGO reef sculpture at the Portland Winter Light Festival.

I'M MOSTLY A

LIGHTING DESIGNER

Spanning over 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

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 multidisciplinary skills as tools in a unique tool box I bring to every project:

    • When Bruce Springsteen‘s production team needed to track financials, deploy each city’s wireless network, and manage logistics: I JOINED THE TOUR
    • When NBC needed a French-speaking lighting supervisor at Le Golf National for the Paris Olympics: I WAS THE LOCATION GAFFER
    • When The National needed a robotic camera operator for the projections in their live show: I DROVE THE ROBOTS
    • When Culture House Immersive needed to develop strategic business models for a slate of interactive experiences: I DIRECTED OPERATIONS
    • When the American Dance Festival commissioned a simultaneous performance between 3 continents: I MIXED THE LIVE FEEDS
    • When Woodshed Collective needed to track audience and performers in a one-on-one telephone performance: I BUILT THE DATABASE
    • When RiverLA needed stylized motion content to guide a web-based immersive experience: I EDITED THE VIDEOS

I BRING DECADES OF EXPERIENCE 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 (Lighting Supervisor since 2017), Disney Cruise Line, Ford’s Theatre, Hartford Stage, Center Stage, The Alley, Jazz at Lincoln Center, Playwrights Horizons, Seattle Opera, Williamstown 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

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: