Kevan was born and raised in Edinburgh, Scotland. He graduated from Loughborough University of Technology with a BSc in Economic and Technological History and Social Psychology in 1975. Kevan began his career as a lighting designer for rock bands including Jethro Tull, Ultravox, XTC and Steve Hackett. During this period, Kevan lived in London and developed an interest in photography, exhibiting solo in Edinburgh in 1983 and participating in a group exhibition in 1986. He achieved a Licentiateship of the Royal Photographic Society. In 1985 he forsook life on the road to realise some long-standing ideas in lighting effects equipment, developing a theatrical lighting effects system for DHA Lighting in London. At this time his lighting design work focused on TV and video projects, including ETC, a live music series for Channel 4, and the MTV World Music Video Awards. He also developed a number of architectural and exhibition lighting schemes at DHA. The most flamboyant was the creation of an erupting volcano in front of the Mirage Hotel, Las Vegas, using light, flame, water and steam. In 1989 Kevan returned to his native town of Edinburgh to practise as a lighting designer in the architectural and exhibition area, establishing KSLD. While building up the practice, Kevan retained an involvement in light art, collaborating with Malcolm Innes to create a number of light sculptures, exhibiting at the St Andrews Festival in 1993, and the Collective Gallery, Edinburgh, in 1992, 1993 and 1994. Kevan was part of the collaborative group who produced ‘Life on the Rock’, a light, projection and sound installation in the Tron Kirk, Edinburgh, as part of the 1995 Photofeis Festival. In 1998 he created two light sculptures for the ‘Viagem au Seculo XX’ in Lisbon and has completed a number of private commissions. Kevan maintains a continuing involvement in stage lighting, as designer for the opera ‘Amahl and the Night Visitors’ and live shows for Jethro Tull and The Dunedin Consort. He is regularly involved in shows during the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and has lit 9 shows over the last 3 years at the Whitespace venue.Kevan’s role in KSLD is that of Design Director. As the practice has grown Kevan has taken on increasing management responsibilities, while maintaining a supervisory and executive role in all of the practice’s projects. He has led the KSLD team on over 590 projects. While all valuable in their way, Kevan identifies the following three projects as being particularly significant for KSLD. The Art Lover’s House, Glasgow (1989), involved the creation of a building based on original competition drawings by Charles Rennie Mackintosh. As the drawings were not worked up to full construction level, the final details of the light fixtures had to be extrapolated from other completed designs, together with input from the craftspeople commissioned to make the fittings. Offering the challenge of having to try and think like Mackintosh, the project allowed KSLD to contribute to Scotland’s design heritage and work with traditional crafts. The National Museum of Scotland, Edinburgh (1998) was the practice’s first major museum project. This gave KSLD the opportunity to make a significant contribution to the national heritage, with the added enjoyment of working in our home city. Projects in the Middle East make up a substantial proportion of KSLD’s work. The practice’s first major commission in the Middle East was the Public Institute for Social Security, Kuwait (2001). This project made ground-breaking use of LEDs, using them to illuminate surfaces rather than as lit elements in themselves. The project won the Public Building category at the Middle East Lighting Design Awards. Always seeking to keep at the forefront of developing technologies, Kevan is considered an industry expert on LEDs, and the practice has become known for it’s innovative use of this technology. Kevan is active within the lighting profession, passionate about driving the profession forward and achieving recognition for this relatively young field. He is professional membe