The year 2010 has begun and with it comes a great selection of brand new lighting designs.

January is always an exciting month within the the lighting industry. This is when all the new lighting designs are launched. The NEC plays host to the Lighting show where all the UK importers and manufacturers put on display all of their latest lighting designs. This year has been no exception on the lighting design front, however there has been a few changes to the importer line up. A few of the big players including Dar Lighting and Franklite Lighting decided not to show at the NEC and instead hosted their own mini lighting shows at their head offices. All the new lighting designs were still out on display but it meant a bit more traveling around for the retailers hunting out the new designs. Could this dilution mean the end of the Lighting show at the NEC? We'll have to wait for 2011 to find out.

The new designs were worth traveling for. A strong theme for 2010 was the continued strength of polished chrome as a colour choice. A lot more of the black chrome colour was on display too. These finishes were often seen decorated with really heavy, polished crystal shades to give that quite chunky style. These crystal shades were paired to elegant metalwork arms to give balance to the lighting designs.

One problem with the Lighting show at the NEC is that it is really only UK suppliers who display there. It would be nice to see more of a selection of Italian lighting or German lighting on display. It would be fantastic to see lighting manufacturers such as Grossmann Leuchten from Germany with their products on display at the UK Lighting show. The natural flowing shapes in Italian lighting and the straight edge crispness of German lighting are very different to one another but would both flatter the show immensely.

If a retailer is looking to stock Italian lighting then the Lighting show in Milan is quite a spectacle. Held every two years, this is where all of the greatest Italian lighting designs are put on display. If German lighting is more your thing then heading over to Frankfurt for the German lighting show is your best bet.