Gobos Explaned
Sounds like a clown, but it actually goes inside a light!
A gobo is a metal or glass disc that fits inside a lighting fixture and allows for the projection of the image on that disc.
There are two main types of gobos. The first is metal. This is simply a piece of high-temperature metal that has had bits LASER-cut out of it to make a shape. Think of a stencil that you might have made in art at school, but much more accurate and much smaller. Because of the makeup of metal gobos, perfect circles are not possible, as they must have a join at some point.
The second type is a glass gobo. These allow for significantly more detail and allow for circles and other shapes. Glass gobos can have multiple layers that allow for multiple colours. Glass gobos are more expensive than metal ones.
The gobo is then placed into a lighting fixture. Where there is a lack of metal or etching the light will pass through and project onto a surface.
Gobos can be placed into a range of light fixtures from moving lights to generic lights.
More articles on this website here, and below
Gobos Explained
Written by Johnny Palmer in 2007 to explain to clients what a gobo is and how it works.
LED, Incandescent, or Discharge?
An article relating to three main types of light sources. The pros and cons of each.
What is a Rider?
Written by Johnny Palmer in 2008 to explain to student ball committees what these are, and how to work with them. A variation of this is published on Wikipedia.
Choosing the Correct Outdoor Stage
Advice on how to choose the right outdoor stage and structure for your event.
Details about water screens
Further reading on the finer details of our water screens.
Event Budgets
Written by Johnny Palmer in 2009 as guidance notes to clients in the middle of the recession; a time when events were happening but on challenging budgets.
Asian Wedding Advice
Advice for clients having weddings with guest number over 500, which are often Asian weddings for Hindu, Muslim and Sikh families. Cathy is one of the UKs leading wedding designers and employed by SXS to deal with high-end and large scale weddings.



