Less admin, more drawing.
Keep every trade order on schedule for the install. Plya keeps a lighting studio's trade orders, tear sheets and showroom contacts in one place, with every approval dated against the install.
Free to start. No card needed.
Hotel Alder · lobby sconces
Studio Kova · 24 sconces · $9,264
Tasks
2 / 5 done- Presale drawings to Studio KovaOct 6
- PO and 50% depositOct 20
- Submittal drawings, Rev ANov 3
- Finish sample approved, aged brassNov 28
- Release to productionDec 1
A hotel order is a project due on its install date. Each approval is a task, a returned drawing adds one, and production starts when the last one is checked.
The admin that comes with trade orders
A fixture is made to a drawing someone else signs. Nothing goes into production until the submittals and the finish sample are approved, and the date that counts is the install.
The submittal that came back with a comment
Approvals are often why custom lighting runs late. Rev B means another review round of up to three weeks, and the install date stays where it was.
The designer who needs a tear sheet by Thursday
Finish, glass, lamping, dimming, rating and trade price, rebuilt in Canva for one client presentation.
The custom quote with engineering in it
Drawings, finish samples and a UL conversion all land in the price, and the hours on the last prototype were never written down.
The showroom that wanted a sample fixture
The rep asked at the fair for a sconce on the floor in Dallas. The finish swatch went out. The fixture and the follow-up didn't.
Write a tear sheet once and send it as a PDF
Write the tear sheet as a note in Plya: the photo, the finish, the glass, the lamping, the dimming, the rating, the lead time and the trade price. Link it to the job and the design firm, and download it as a PDF when the designer asks.
How notes workAlder sconce
Wall sconce · made to order in Brooklyn
Follow up with every showroom after a fair
Showrooms, reps and design firms go in Network, and the ones you're pitching sit on a pipeline with your own stages. The Follow-ups view lists who's overdue, who's due today and who's due this week, so the sample fixture a showroom asked for has a date.
How outreach worksFollow-ups
2 dueOverdue
Today
This week
Later
Tools for the full lighting designer's year
Lighting fairs, hospitality shows and fixed install dates come around every year. Each one has a place in Plya.
- January to FebruaryJan to Feb
Lightovation and Maison&Objet
Showroom buyers in Dallas and reps in Paris go in Network as organizations with their people, tagged Showroom or Rep.
- March to AprilMar to Apr
Light + Building and Euroluce
Frankfurt in even years, Milan in odd ones. A launch is a project with a due date, and the prototypes, the photography and the tear sheets are its tasks.
- May to JuneMay to Jun
HD Expo and NYCxDesign
Hospitality designers come through Las Vegas in May. Each firm you're pitching sits on a pipeline with its next follow-up dated.
- July to AugustJul to Aug
Fair applications
Applications for Milan's showcase for designers under 35 close around the end of August. Fairs, open calls and awards are listed in Opportunities with their deadlines and entry costs. Mark the ones you're applying to.
- September to OctoberSep to Oct
Orders for spring installs
At a normal 8 to 20 week lead time, a fall order lands between December and March. Each approval on it is a task with its own due date.
- November to DecemberNov to Dec
BDNY, ICFF and Design Miami
Hotel deposits, gallery sales and holiday table lamps close the year. Every invoice, sent, overdue or paid, sits in one list.
Log prototype hours on the job
Log the hours on a prototype, the drawings and the finish samples as internal time on its project in Plya. The next custom quote starts from what the last fixture took.
Sample quotes
“I open the canvas in the morning and know who I owe a reply.”
Theo OkonkwoLighting designerMade for every kind of studio
Furniture
Commissions, deposits and the design trade
Ceramics
Wholesale orders, stockists and commissions
Textiles
Commissions, licenses and galleries
Jewelry
Custom commissions, consignment and wholesale
Spend more time in the workshop
The drawings, the trade accounts and the invoices in one place, and the bench time for glass, brass and cord.