Team

As the Principal of e2 lighting design, Erin Erdman is involved in all phases of a project, from schematic design through construction and post-occupancy. Her primary focus is to achieve the highest quality illuminated environments through effective communication with Clients and Design Teams to simultaneously meet the Architect’s aesthetic desires, programmatic requirements, and lighting budget.

Since starting e2 lighting design in January 2004, she has designed and managed a wide variety of projects including commercial, production, and post-production spaces, residential, retail, places of worship, multi-unit dwellings, assisted living homes, building facades, theatrical spaces, and exterior landscapes.

She has made a conscious decision to create a broad-based and project-diverse lighting design firm, not specializing in one architectural niche. This diversity keeps the firm aware of all cutting-edge lighting techniques and brings creativity and freshness to each project.

In addition to an accomplished commercial design portfolio, she has developed numerous residential projects. Her residential design work ranges from ultra-modern to mountain lodge vernacular with projects across California and throughout the United States.

Erin is a graduate of the University of Colorado’s Architectural Engineering program, which is a nationally renowned institution for lighting education. She is a Professional Member of the International Association of Lighting Designers (IALD) and a member of the Illuminating Engineering Society (IES).

As a registered architect and lighting designer, Lindsey contributes a unique dual design perspective that enables her to quickly grasp big-picture concepts and translate design intent into crafted details, ensuring that the lighting design reveals the essence of every project. Her dedication to striving for personalized design solutions and a collaborative team-based approach is evident in her professional accomplishments over 15 years in the design industry.

Lindsey’s well-rounded expertise translates into the ability to enhance architectural features and add dimension with lighting as a medium, transforming spaces into experiences that connect people to their built environment.

Designing with care, Lindsey ensures a long-term commitment to clients, sharing their unique vision and goals. She actively supports the endeavor to implement lighting’s positive impact and create a sense of well-being catered to the population it serves. Access to daylight and circadian lighting, energy-efficient performance, and reducing light pollution in support of environmental preservation are integral components of her core values during design.

Lindsey advocates for sustainable design practices and is a LEED-accredited professional with BD+C specialty. She is also Lighting Certified with an LC credential to demonstrate her commitment to the lighting profession and advancements with ongoing education. Her foundation with BIM technology stems from project-based experience as an Architect and she has spearheaded the implementation of Revit into the firm’s current workstream, supporting multidisciplinary teams to efficiently maintain a synced process.

For Gabby, lighting design has always been magical because of its ability to tell the story of a building, transform a space, enhance the human experience, and highlight cultural influences.

With ten years of experience in the design industry, she uses her background and personal experiences as the essence of her design. Gabby has a Bachelor of Science and a License in Architecture and Urbanism from Brazil and has achieved her Master’s in Fine Arts in Lighting Design from Parsons The New School of Design in New York City. Gabby has lived in Brazil, Switzerland, New York City, and currently, Los Angeles, and has traveled around the world exploring different cultures, people, architecture, and design approaches.

Her experience as a designer includes an internship with the renowned architect Frank Gehry, where she learned from an architectural perspective how to work on unique projects executed with the highest standards.

With a background in Urbanism, she can analyze the relative to its geographic and cultural location, understanding how people will interact with the space, their values, and culture. With a background in Architecture, she can comprehend and react to complex spaces. With past work experience in Interior Design, she can observe details and collaborate with ideas to create subtle interactions between light and space. This unique diversity of disciplines helps her design memorable spaces that seamlessly integrate lighting, architecture, and urban environments.

Colby Freel is a designer with a diverse lighting background. In addition to his work in architecture, he has experience in all areas of lighting for entertainment including plays, musicals, corporate design, ballet, contemporary dance, and concerts.

As a theater artist, story telling is at the heart of Colby’s design process. Humans experience and make sense of the world as a narrative, and a lighting designers’ task is to craft the stories of homes and public spaces through light. Colby employs his theatrical training and experience to elevate the design and execution of many of eSquared’s commercial and residential projects that incorporate theatrical design approaches, fixtures, and control technologies.

With the advancement of lighting technology, Digital Multiplex (DMX) has become an increasingly prevalent lighting control protocol in the industry. Because of his experience with DMX control design, Colby has aided the eSquared team in implementation of this theatrically based technology. He also uses his theatrical programing experience in many projects that incorporate DMX fixtures.

Colby received his Bachelor of Arts in Theatre: Design and Technical Theater from the Department of Theater and Film at the University of Alaska Fairbanks in May 2019. In May of 2022, he received his M.F.A. in Lighting Design and Technology at the School of Theater, Television, and Film at San Diego State University. Post-graduation, Colby was honored as the 2022 Hemsley Lighting Intern.

Vania Santos is a former culinary-trained Sous Chef and Executive Chef in Rancho Palos Verdes and Manhattan Beach who demonstrated her creativity and visual presentation skills with beautiful seasonal dishes in an inviting atmosphere. Vania found her passion and love of Architecture when given the opportunity to travel to different hotels and assist with the opening of new properties by implementing the design features, space planning, and site surveys for new restaurants. The creativity of design developments and functionality of each space, from construction to opening night, motivated her to pursue and achieve an A.S. in Architecture. Vania enjoys seeing how light can help accentuate architectural details as well as how light layers can transform an environment and its mood. Just like salt, light must be carefully placed to the exact amount; if too little, it’s almost unnoticeable, if too much, it’s unpleasant.

Since joining eSquared, she has taken a particular interest in how lighting can affect health. Vania has a passion for helping improve the lives of those with neurocognitive disorders, such as Alzheimer’s. Manipulating light to mimic the rising and setting of the sun in interior spaces is very beneficial as it encourages a healthy circadian rhythm, which in turn is known to relieve anxiety and overall improve both physical and mental health.

Emma has been working with eSquared since August of 2022. In addition to drafting and administrative support, Emma has been instrumental in establishing eSquared’s Photoshop standards. Emma is in her first year of studies at Long Beach Community College.

Naya is the 2-year-old mixed breed. After her adoption in September 2022, she was drawn to lighting design, specifically eSquared Lighting, by the pet-friendly environment allowing her to accompany her human to work. She enjoys the company of the team and the belly rubs.

Naya’s main contributions to the team revolve around emotional support, and she has an uncanny ability to make people feel better and provide much-needed breaks from the stress of the day. Her background of simply being adorable and her wagging tail enable her to charm anyone who walks through the door.

The most notable of Naya’s accomplishments include leading the Friday office outings down the street for gelato, making sure everyone takes an occasional break to pet her, and destroying her tennis ball.