Saturday Indesign 2026 at Nook Collections: A Day of Light, Material and Making | Vol.1

On Saturday 12 September, Nook Collections opened its doors for our very first Saturday Indesign - and what a day it became.

More than 600 people joined us throughout the day at our Surry Hills showroom, bringing together designers, architects, makers and design lovers to explore light from many different perspectives.

From our biological relationship with the sun to the craft of glass blowing, colour, material, form and the simple beauty of shadow, the day was filled with conversations, demonstrations and hands-on experiences that reflected something we believe deeply at Nook: lighting is about far more than illuminating a room.

It shapes the way we experience architecture, changes how we perceive materials, creates atmosphere and influences how a space makes us feel.

There was far too much happening to capture in one story, so this is only Part One of our Saturday Indesign experience. We’ll be sharing Part Two soon, along with more moments, conversations and images from an incredible day at Nook Collections.

Lighting as Emotion

One of the highlights of the day was Lighting as Emotion, moderated by Kate Goodwin and featuring Jason Gibney, Genevieve Wild and Ilan El.

The conversation asked a deceptively simple question:

Why does light make us feel the way it does?

The answer took us thousands of years into the past before bringing us right back into the spaces we design today.

Jason Gibney - rediscovering light and darkness

Jason Gibney began with our ancestral relationship with light.

Long before artificial lighting, our days were governed by sunrise and sunset, brightness and darkness. Light wasn't simply something that allowed us to see - our bodies responded to its changing qualities throughout the day.

Jason's perspective was also a reminder that designing with light means designing with its opposite.

“We need to reacquaint ourselves with darkness and shade. It’s through contrast that we begin to appreciate the beauty and power of light.”

It's a wonderfully simple principle with significant implications for interiors: not every surface needs to be illuminated.

Shadow, contrast and moments of darkness can be just as important as the fixture itself.

Genevieve Wild - designing around the human experience

From our ancestral relationship with natural light, Genevieve Wild moved the conversation into modern life and contemporary lighting practice.

Our relationship with darkness has fundamentally changed. Nights that were once naturally dark have increasingly become uniformly illuminated.

Genevieve explored circadian rhythms and the opportunity for designers to think more carefully about when, where and how much light we introduce into an environment.

“Good lighting isn’t about flooding a space with light. It’s about layering light intentionally and understanding how it supports the way we feel, move and live within a space.”

For architects and interior designers, this brings the conversation back to intentionality.

Rather than asking only how much light does this room need?, we can also ask: How should this room feel?

Ilan El - when light becomes emotion

The final chapter of the conversation belonged to Ilan El, whose work explores light as both a functional medium and an artistic experience.

Colour-changing and interactive light demonstrate just how dramatically our perception of an environment can shift without changing the physical space itself.

“Light has the ability to affect us before we even understand what we’re responding to. The future of lighting is increasingly interactive - creating environments that respond to people, emotion and wellbeing.”

It brought the conversation full circle. From the light humans evolved with, to the light we design with, to the light we feel.

More than 600 people - and one very full showroom

For Monica, welcoming more than 600 people through Nook Collections for our first Saturday Indesign was an important moment.

“This was our first time hosting Saturday Indesign, and to welcome more than 600 people through our showroom was incredibly special. We wanted Nook to feel like more than somewhere you come to select a light. We wanted to create a place for the design community to meet, exchange ideas, experience beautiful design and have conversations about what light can really do within a space. Seeing the showroom come alive in that way was wonderful.”

What made the day truly memorable was seeing the showroom come alive - with conversations, new connections, shared ideas and a genuine curiosity about light and design.

From thought-provoking discussions with designers to hands-on experiences with paper and glass, Saturday Indesign gave us the opportunity to explore lighting from different perspectives - as design, craft, science and emotion.

For us, it was also a glimpse of what we want Nook Collections to continue to be: a destination where lighting, design, knowledge and community come together.

To our speakers, makers, collaborators and everyone who helped bring the day to life - thank you. And to the more than 600 people who visited throughout the day, thank you for making our first Saturday Indesign such a memorable one.

And there’s more to share.

Part Two is coming soon, with more stories, conversations and images from the day - and a closer look at the people and ideas that made our first Saturday Indesign so special.