Community, Leadership, Experimentation, Diversity, & Education
Pittsburgh Arts, Regional Theatre, New Work, Producing, Copyright, Labor Unions,
New Products, Coping Skills, J-O-Bs...
Theatre industry news, University & School of Drama Announcements, plus occasional course support for
Carnegie Mellon School of Drama Faculty, Staff, Students, and Alumni.
Saturday, December 07, 2013
Neon Lights, Nostalgia and Night
Tested: Ever wonder how neon signs are made? Enjoy this short documentary about the dying art of neon sign-making featuring craftsman from New York-based Let There Be Neon. LED lights may have supplanted the neon sign business, but it's great to know that there are still artisans practicing the trade and paying tribute to its storied history.
I found it really interesting that they began by talking about how the neon light industry has changed in the last few years (as of 2013.) They spoke about how much of the competition has dropped out, and only a few sellers make neon signs anymore. They are reserved for special family businesses, as opposed to chains like Olive Garden. They emphasized how LED lights cannot stand in for neon signs.
ReplyDeleteI briefly researched LED signs now, and it seems like they’ve really improved in the 7 years since this article came out. There are a lot of online shops now that create what are advertised as neon signs. Reading the small text, I found that most of these “neon signs” are actually LED signs.
I watched a video from a couple months ago of an artist making a custom neon sign. It seems that the craftsmanship is still the same as from 2013.
It was great to compare the market from a couple years ago to the current market and learn a bit about how neon signs are shaped with fire.