Custom Neon Signs- A Comprehensive Guide

 

Introduction

Setting up your residential and commercial spaces is an important task, especially if you are into designing your home, or even your workplace. A neon sign in the property can be the perfect option for anyone that wishes to add a bit more character to their property. With the advancement of technology, the potential in the world of neon signs has also improved.

We recommend taking the time to fully understand the potential of the neon lights and how they can impact your business or home. To help you with this task, we will discuss about the following:

• How LED Lights Glow
• How Neon Signs Work
• What does creating a Neon Sign include?
• What are the top option for Custom Neon Lights
• And a lot more.

By the end of this article, you will have sufficient information to begin your custom neon sign design and create a custom one that you like the most.

How LED Lights Work?

Before you assess the neon signs and their options, you must first understand how these LED lights work. These lights have a variety of designs and outputs, which also determine their applications.

For instance, multicolored LED lights are more common in commercial settings such as nightclubs. The simpler, more elegant ones can easily be found in residential buildings.

These simpler lights are ideal for property owners that want to illuminate their indoors and outdoors without paying too much for maintenance.

Since these LED lights are versatile, they are best for property owners looking for long-term functionality and performance. Let’s discuss how these LED lights operate:

How Neon Signs work?

Neon lights are gas discharge lamp that uses neon gas as their light source. The gas is contained in a glass tube with electrodes at either end. You need to provide sufficient energy to operate and light up the neon LED.

As the electric current flows through the setting, the bulbs become efficient enough to remove an outer electron from the neon atom. The system must have sufficient voltage during this phase. Without proper voltage, the atoms don’t have the required kinetic energy neon atom escape, resulting in no light production.

Following classical physics, the positive ions (cations) move from their terminal to the negative one. These positive ions then collect on the other end of the cathode, charging it.

At the same time, the free electrons collect on the positive terminal, resulting in charged particles (called plasma). The plasma helps complete the circuit, allowing the network to create the required result.

Thus, the neon tube produces light called “neon,” a gas with charged particles that move around the tube and illuminate everything.With the movement of these electrons, they collide, creating a lot of pressure and heat.

Some neon atoms also escape from the setting, getting “wasted .”On the other hand, other neon atoms gain the required energy to become “excited” to move to the next energy level. Experts call it a higher energy state, allowing the atoms to charge more.

The simplest way to understand this concept is to consider each energy level a ladder. The electron can be on a particular level of the ladder. The electron can return to its original stateonce the atoms release its photon (packet of light/energy.

The main difference between the color outputs in the case of the neon lights depends on the distance between the original atom and the excited one.

Like the difference between ladder rungs, the difference between the energy levels is also set. Therefore, every noble gas reacts differently by losing its excited electrons, producing lights in different colors.For instance, neon has a natural reddish-orange light when it loses its photons.

Where Do Other Colors Besides Red Come From?

There’s a variety of different colors for neon signs that you can see produced. It’s because these signs have different wavelengths and internal energies. The difference in their energies allows these neon signs to produce various colors.

In addition, these noble gases can have different colors based on their properties. You can mix these noble gases within the glass tube to get the required results.

For example, here are the various colors for the different noble gases:

• Krypton is green
• Helium glows pink
• Argon is blue

If the gases are mixed, you can create more colors and get a full light spectrum for aesthetics and functionality.

Another smart way to get the desired results is to add phosphor or other luminous chemicals that create light when charged properly. Since there are so many different coatings to choose from,modern lights hardly have neon. However, it doesn’t mean these lights have become obsolete.

Instead, fluorescent lamps use mercury/argon discharge and a phosphor coating. The easiest way to spot a noble gas is to check for lights that glow clearly with color. Another simple way to adjust the colors of the light is to change the electricity amount supplied to the light unit.

However, this method is not used for light fixtures as they don’t provide this much flexibility. You can get multiple colors from a single neon light if done correctly.However, you must understand the different light stages and sources before using this method.

What Does Creating a Custom Neon Sign Include?

Every customer wants to purchase an ‘off the shelf’ neon light. It’s because different clients have different requirements. For instance, someone purchasing neon lights for their residential building may not necessarily want the same ones available in the commercial market.

The main difference between the neon light options depends on the manufacturers available in the market and the one you like. Here are the main factors that buyers should consider while creating their custom neon signs:

• Mounting Type
• Style and layout of lettering/design
• Size
• Color(s)

In addition to these basic differences, there are some professional differences to keep in mind. For example:

You should know how to adjust the neon sign design outdoors. The outdoor lights have different characteristics in terms of their resins and primers that prevent water from entering the light setup.

The buyers should also have the option to re-adjust the light intensity outdoors. It means they can make the custom neon lights flash or dim, depending on how they want the results.

Commercial neon lights are usually custom-made because companies need them for a particular purpose.

For instance, they could use the neon sign on their welcome area or for marketing a newly-opened franchise. With a specific look, the owners can convey a more personalized message.

In addition, the buyers have more versatile options for their signs, rather than just neon, like in the past. For example, you can consider purchasing LED lights with the same working results and better results in general.

Bar Signs with Neon Signs

If you have ever visited a bar, pub, or club, you have probably seen a glowing sign to welcome you. These signs are neon signs, custom-made. Like all LED or neon signs, the bar signs also have a variety of shapes, colors, sizes, and designs that you can mount on the wall or suspend down.

It all depends on the final look you wish to achieve with it. Some pub owners even install signs within the doorway. You can tailor these signs to your heart’s desire and get them completed by professionals.

What is the Best Option for Custom Neon Lights?

They will require details when you approach a manufacturer for a custom neon light assignment. These details will determine the final look of the custom neon light you get. There’s much more to understand, so let’s discuss it.

In most cases, Shine Decor requires our clients to directly choose different colors, fonts, sizes and other elements to create their own designs lively on this website. Alternatively, customers can upload design instructions for their desired neon lights or even send us a email to further communicate on the design of their ideal custom neon signs.

Before personalizing on our website, customers are encouraged to know the common neon light elements.

1.  Size Options

The size of the neon sign is the first consideration because it varies from client to client. For instance, service providers or business owners with a picture in their name may have larger neon signs compared to those with only text.

Shine Decor can easily cater to any size of neon sign you need. However, it may impact the time required for completion. Since there’s a lot of speculation in this regard, we have standard sizes, which may be found in this link.

2.  Color Options

By now, you understand that neon lights have a variety of colors that they can use for custom designs. These color options vary based on the kind of manufacture you want and the final light output required. In most cases, custom neon light manufacturers offer ten to fifty lights.

You can even ask them to experiment with the shades and get limitless possibilities. For instance, you can choose between 10 static color options. The static lights are the ones that don’t change color. However, digital and color-tunable ones are also available.

These tunable lights use a variety of RGB options letting the neon signs replicate any shade within the light spectrum. The standard practice for colors in the custom neon sign practice is red. Red is visible during the day and at night, making it the most flexible option. The typical light on and light off color effect of Shine Decor signs can be easily understood through this image.

When you discuss the design with us, ensure discussing the full spectrum of lights and find the ones that suit your prescribed designs the most.

Note: The color of the neon sign usually doesn’t impact the pricing of the custom light. You can still discuss the pricing details with Shine Decor and decide accordingly.

3.  Layout, Lettering, and Design

Like other elements within the neon sign, the final layout and lettering impact the results you get. Like many neon light manufacturers, Shine Decor let customers choose their preferred fonts and letterings. The colors will only blend with the fonts if you choose the right ones.

Therefore, it’s necessary to design the complete neon sign, instead of considering one element. There’s a variety of conversion options for neon lights, such as tubing and acrylic tubing.

There are some basic script-type fonts, which you may call serif or cursive. These cursive fonts are industry common and provide a sophisticated final look. If you want something bolder, block-style fonts are a good big. These include sans serif or non-cursive fonts. Both these styles are equally popular and depend more on what the buyers prefer.

Additionally, the lettering influences the final size of your custom neon sign. Therefore, it’s essential to consider it as well. However, we may limit the customers to the number of letters they can have in a single line. You can still get as many letters as you want, but you will have to get a bigger neon design.

You can change the designs and letterings into neon or LED neon signs. In this case, simplicity is king. The simpler the text, the larger the neon sign has to be in most cases.

4.  Backing Options

In most cases, the manufacturers use different bases to add neon signs. These include the following:

• Acrylic
• Wood
• Metal
• Aluminum

Currently, Shine Decor adopts Acrylic by default. However, you can still negotiate with us to provide a backboard with a different material with different prices.

End Note

Creating a custom neon sign or light is a prevailing option for any property. We recommend following the details we have mentioned in this article, and keeping them in mind the next time you want to get a new custom neon sign designed for yourself.

With the details we have shared, any neon sign you design will look great and will serve its purpose. If you still have more questions, please just drop us an image.

It may take some extra time to fully understand and design these custom neon signs, but you will be satisfied with the final results you get!

Happy decorating with the custom neon lights!