USA – Keep the client’s music at the center of your design! That fundamental principle has guided award winning designer Tony Fransen’s stellar career for over two decades. “I do my best to let the music show me the way in all projects,” said the Emmy winning designer, whose list of clients have included Prince, One Republic, Brandon Lake, and Steven Curtis Chapman.
That core vision may be etched in stone, but how a gifted designer goes about achieving it will change as technology, expectations, and styles evolve. Adapting to this process is where the inspiration and talent of a designer shines through.
Such was the case when Fransen designed the production for the 2026 edition of seven-time Grammy winner TobyMac’s “Hits Deep Tour.” Supporting his client’s uplifting music note-for-inspiring-note, Fransen’s bold design created a captivating visual narrative that flowed seamlessly from soft gentle reflections to high-energy crescendos, to deep contemplative moments, all without ever losing its connection to the music or the audience.
Fransen explored new approaches in lighting a show when creating this compelling design. For example, he reduced his reliance on more conventional moving fixtures in favor of creating powerful linear configurations. “I think of it as a way to get bang for the buck,” he said of the decision, adding, “We are able to be a lot more diverse in the way we light the show then we would be with some of the more traditional methods.”
Key to helping Fransen achieve this vision was a collection of 100 CHAUVET Professional COLORado PXL Bar 16 motorized battens, which, like the rest of his lighting and video rig (including 32 Maverick Storm 2 Profiles) were supplied and installed by IPS of Franklin, TN.
“We were really able to take advantage of the PXL 16,” said Fransen. “It allowed us to use many impressive combinations, of subtle broken up pixel looks, wild chases, and button snaps to the beat.”
In keeping with his eagerness to explore new design options, Fransen had his batten fixtures do double duty as blinders. “Over the past few years, we have been moving away from being stuck to a traditional blinder, which just does one thing,” he explained. “Using a fixture like PXL16 allows us to make the show a lot more musical, following the beat and creating a lot more visual interest.”
“We love the brightness of PXL 16, paired with the Storm2 Profile – it helped us create many dynamic looks,” continued Fransen. “All our traditional backlight and side light, as well as our upstage round row were Storm 2 Profile. We were able to color correct them to our typical backlight levels, but then punch them out and use them as beams when we needed that type of look.”
Fransen’s studio Tony Fransen Productions handled all the production design, lighting programming, video programming, and creative services. He was helped by programmers Elijah Ekdahl (Lighting) and Chris Herman (Media Servers), as well as the “very talented and supportive team” at IPS.
“You can bring a production like this to life with without good collaborators,” said Fransen, adding that teamwork is the key… and oh, that’s another rule of design that remains the same, regardless of which changes there are in the way tools are used.
