Jump to content

ELECTRIC SIGN SUPPLIES
If You're Looking For Premium Electric Sign Industry Components From Trim Cap, LED's, Neon Supplies, Power Supplies, Pattern Paper.  Then Please Visit Our Online Store or Feel Free To Call Us For Inquiries or Placing an Order!!
Buy Now

SIGN INSTALLER MAP
Looking for a fellow Sign Syndicate Company Member For A Sign Install or Maintenance Call?
Click Here

For Sign Company's Who Work As Subcontractors
Before You Work For A National Sign & Service Company You Need To Look At The Reviews Of These Companies Before You Work For Them. Learn When To Expect Payment From Them and What It's Like To Work For Them, The Good, The Bad, The Ugly. Learn and Share Your Experiences Yourself For Others

Click Here

On the Rebound


Erik Sine

Recommended Posts

Nostalgic neon’s hot glow is cool again

http://www.postandcourier.com/article/20151018/PC05/151019462/1177/nostalgic-neon-x2019-s-hot-glow-is-cool-again

post-3-0-49378800-1445219678.jpg

Neon signs can evoke a range of emotions — from the cheerful optimism of their post-World War II heyday to the gloominess of a seedy, backstreet watering hole during its downturn.

But regardless of which way the popularity pendulum is swinging, there is one certainty: It is impossible to remain neon neutral.

People either love or hate the ostentatious marketing displays.

These days, neon appears to be on a comeback, with the latest sign to light the downtown Charleston skyline going up last week for a new tenant at the historic Cigar Factory on East Bay Street.

Advertising the Mercantile and Mash restaurant, the oversized neon sign was the perfect choice to make a statement on such a behemoth building, said Charleston architect David Thompson.

“On a building of that scale, you have to have a sign that has some presence from the street,” said Thompson, who designed the Mercantile and Mash sign as well as interiors for that restaurant and several other Cigar Factory tenants. “When you get to a sign that big, I think neon is the best candidate. There’s just more character to it.”

The Mercantile and Mash sign joins older neon notables on the Charleston peninsula, such as: the Tellis pharmacy sign still standing at the now-defunct lower King Street drugstore; the Berlin’s clothing store sign; a sign marking Star’s Restaurant; and a pair of signs advertising the soon-to-be-closed Morris Sokol furniture store.

New neon is popping up, such as a retro M. Dumas & Sons sign at the King Street clothier.

And more is on the way.

“I think neon should be everywhere,” said Thompson, who hints that additional neon signs might be added at the Cigar Factory as redevelopment of the 244,000-square-foot structure continues.

For signmaker Joe Binz, owner of Charleston Sign & Banner, neon is a peninsular phenomenon.

“Downtown, that seems like it’s been a big thing lately,” said Binz, whose company built the Mercantile and Mash sign. “But for the rest of the Lowcountry, we don’t do many.”
It’s a gas

Most signs with lighted individual lettering are illuminated by light-emitting diode, or LED, modules. LED is cheaper, it burns longer and it requires less maintenance than its neon counterpart.

Signs illuminated by LEDs also are easier to make.

post-3-0-29333900-1445219674.jpg

Neon signs are made from glass tubes that are heated and then bent to form various letters and shapes.

“Once you take it out of the heat, you have about 10 seconds to bend it,” said Robert Harris, sales manager for Charleston Sign & Banner. “Then you bring it back and heat it again, you’re back and forth several times until you get it to the shape you want it to be.”

After the glass is shaped, a vacuum pump sucks all of the air out of the tube, which is then repeatedly zapped with 15,000 volts of electricity to purify its interior. The tube is then filled with neon, argon and mercury gases. The gases, combined with fluorescent coating on the glass tubes, form various colors.

In a completed sign, an electric current hits the electrodes in the tubes and the electrons flow through the gas, making it glow.

“There’s a craftsmanship that you don’t see very often any more,” Binz said of the process. Charleston Sign & Banner built the Mercantile and Mash sign entirely on site at its Dorchester Road office in North Charleston.

For Thompson, craftsmanship is a key part of neon’s appeal.

post-3-0-98052300-1445219675.jpg

“It’s not a machine-made thing,” he said. “It’s a handmade element by necessity, and I think the appreciation for handmade things is coming back into vogue. People are getting a little tired of the mundane, and neon is anything but mundane. You can’t make a mundane neon sign.”

Neon has been around for more than a century, but the glowing glass tubes didn’t hit their peak in America until the 1930s and ’40s, when there were more than 5,000 neon workshops across the country.
Retro rebound

Almost as fast as neon soared, it began to sputter. By the 1960s, zoning regulations regularly banned the objects, and neon signs were considered kitschy at best and a sign of urban decay at worst, “their light shining above all on those looked down upon as losers,” according to Christopher Ribbat’s book “Flickering Light: A History of Neon.”

A few decades later, preservationists, architects and artsy types began to realize what was being lost when neon signs were relegated to the trash bin.

“What’s lost is character, a sense of the neighborhood community and a piece of history,” Chicago photographer Dan Zamudio — who published a book chronicling that city’s neon signs — told USA Today.

For Thompson, the architect, neon’s resurgent popularity is steeped in nostalgia.

“You see it in people’s cars, the number of Vespas on the street, the speakeasy design that’s happening,” Thompson said of baby boomers’ longing for things that remind them of their youthful 1940s, ’50s and early ’60s. “That era just happens to be popular across all kinds of media now. It’s good timing for neon.”

Zoning regulators also are warming up to neon. Thompson said it’s “not as difficult as it once was” to get approval for a neon sign from Charleston’s Board of Architectural Review, even though the board’s official stance is “the use of exposed neon is generally not permitted.”

“It’s certainly an exception to the rule, and the BAR has always done a good job of scrutinizing when it’s a good time to break the rules,” Thompson said. “Their meter for that is that it has to be a unique use and it has to be done exceptionally well.”

And as neon’s acceptance grows, Thompson said he intends to push the BAR’s comfort level.

“I’d like to see a neon sign that has a little bit of movement to it,” he said. “They used to be very playful, and I think we’ve gotten overly conservative in what our taste is right now. So I’m going to be looking for an opportunity to propose a more exuberant sign in the future.”

  • Like 1

You have enemies? Good. That means you've stood up for something, sometime in your life. - Winston Churchill

Link to comment
Share on other sites



  • Topics

  • Posts

    • Early on, my feeling was this little module was going to be the most popular module we will have.  You can do so much with it, Channel Letters, Reverse Channel Letter Halo Lighting is Ridiculous.  This module has been best for shallow faces from 1.5" to 5"+.  If you liked the quality of the Sloan Prism, this is the better module for 1/3 the price.     To date, it's been the hardest to keep on the shelf and in stock.     Beginning of next year we are widening the options of lighting with  Ruby Red, Cobalt Blue, Sunflower Yellow, Green and for whites 4000K, 5000K, 7100K to go alongside out 6500K & 3000K.   Demand has been phenomenal.  Running short has been a good problem to have.  
    • So this got even worse If what I'm hearing is true.  The word from a few Hanley Reps just said that Principal / Sloan just bought them out.   Fewer Choices....Lower Quality.      
    • NEW YORK, United States, Nov. 22, 2023 -- EasyCut Studio, a worldwide leading developer of sign-making software solutions, has launched a new enhancement to its industry-leading vinyl cutting software, Easy Cut Studio, which now includes true shape nesting. this enhancement tool takes sign making to a whole new level. Efficiently nest all your objects to save on time and material.   Nesting is the process of placing your design as efficiently as possible to save on production materials. This new feature enables all users to reduce their material waste in average by 40%. The intuitive and powerful option improves the arrangement of multiple objects per job by rearranging the objects based on their actual shape.   “Thanks to the latest updates, the newly added nesting feature efficiently nest all objects to save on time and material, designers can enjoy creating more in less time,” said Eric Lee, Senior Product Manager for EasyCut Studio. “Starting from now, users will be able to upgrade their Easy Cut Studio to Version 5.026 in order to experience the full range of new Nesting features and improvements. It's simple, intuitive, fully automatic , and no training is needed.”   In addition to the new nesting feature. this update also includes more than 10 new cutter drivers, the official support of macOS Sonoma, several bug fixes, compatible with several new vinyl cutters and improvements to the stability and performance of the software, enabling users to design, print and cut more efficiently than ever before. So this latest version will definitely amaze you.     Easy Cut Studio Release v5.026 includes a host of new features, including:   l  Fixed a problem with incorrect dimensions for Print+Cut groups. l  Fixed a problem with Print+Cut with Janome Artistic Edge 15 cutter. l  Fixed crash issue when printing and cutting with KNK Force cutter. l  Performing the advanced nesting by moving the object including the rotation. l  Fixed a problem with manual laser alignment with Titan. l  Fixed crashing problem with offset path. l  Fixed the issue of incomplete cutting or random cutting. l  Fixed the issue where users were unable to connect to the Summa machines via USB. l  Adds support for JiaChen JC-E, JiaChen JC-H and JiaChen JC-DS series. l  Adds support for UKCutter V-series. l  Adds support for Vevor KI series. l  Other stability improvements. l  Official Support for Windows 11 and macOS 14.2 Sonoma.    For more information about Easy Cut Studio, visit https://www.easycutstudio.com/     Pricing and Availability: Easy Cut Studio offers a free 15-day trial, along with direct customer support. The program works on a Windows PC or Mac including the newer Mac Silicon processors. Users can try out the new features by downloading the free demo version, or purchase the full version starts from $59.95 USD for the lifetime.     About EasyCut :   Founded in 2007, EasyCut is a software company that develops sign-making software for Windows and Mac devices. We have always worked closely with cutting plotter manufacturers around the globe. Thus we adapt our vinyl cutting software for different technologies and continuously adds support for new cutting machines and improve the printing and cutting workflows.  With a focus on excellence and user satisfaction, EasyCut continues to push boundaries in software development, delivering reliable and problem-solving solutions for users worldwide.                                                                 ### MEDIA ONLY CONTACT:   Eric Johnson Director of Marketing E-mail: support@easycutstudio.com Website: https://www.easycutstudio.com/
    • Sign Journeyman Electrician / Serviceman Hanson Sign Company, located on the beautiful Kitsap Peninsula in Washington State, has been in business since 1964.  We are known for the great care we take with clients and employees alike.  The Sign Electrician will be responsible for ensuring that sign installations and service are executed to code and meet company standards. Specific responsibilities include: Troubleshoot sign issues and determine repair requirements.  Install various types of signs and hook up to electrical circuit if required.  Operate with safety as the primary concern for team, customer and self. Job Requirements: Journeyman Electrician in Washington State 04 (signs) or 01 (general) electrical license.  Valid drivers license.  Professional appearance and personality.  Must be willing to work in attics, crawl spaces and aerial lifts / bucket truck up to 60’. Other Abilities Safely ascend and descent ladders.  Regularly lift and move up to 50 lbs.  Good mechanical skills set such as: working with hands, tools, climbing, good sense of balance, bending, kneeling, crouching, etc. Job type:  Full time, some overtime and travel.  Hours are 7:30am to 4:00pm Monday – Friday. Salary:  $36 - $42 per hour depending on experience. Benefits:  100% paid medical, dental, vision plan.  Matching 401K, paid vacation and holidays. Well maintained equipment, including new Altec trucks. Drug testing and employment physical may be required.
    • Discussing the BrighON LED Module Lineup for the Electric Sign Industry   A brief description about the High-End, High Efficiency BrightON LED Module Line for the Electric Industry by @Kgirl. These LED Modules are made for everything from Channel Letters, Sign Cabinets, Architectural Elements to General Lighting.   • The 24V & 12V .8 watt BrightON II • The 12V 1.2 watt BrightON III • The 24V & 12V 1.6 watt BrightON IV • The 12V .72 watt BrightON Lightning • The 24V 2.4 watt BrightON SunFire • The 24V 3W RGB+W BrightON Sirius  
×
  • Create New...