A very specific type of LED acrylic signs are the neon signs. Technically speaking this is a bit of a misnomer. Previously, people used to fabricate signs out of glass tubes filled with neon or argon, xenon, helium and other noble gasses. These gasses used to light up with the typically bright and fluorescent colours we are all familiar with.
But neon lights were very difficult to maintain and consumed huge amounts of power. The glass tubes were prone to breakage. Also, the gas used to frequently leak out of the glass tubes it was encased in. Do you remember seeing neon signs where one of the letters was flickering or had gone completely dark?
Depicting a seedy rundown motel by opening the scene on a partly dark or flickering sign is a trick used in many Hollywood movies. Such broken down signs did attract attention, but for all the wrong reasons. With the advent of low-cost, low power consuming, and long-life LEDs, glass tube signs quickly became obsolete.
But the neon lights used decades ago had one thing going for them. Their bright fluorescent lights emulated colours straight out of a science fiction movie. These colours brought a festive party-look to their surroundings.
Neon signs were phenomenal attention grabbers. They have always been in great demand in places like bars, lounges, restaurants, fashion salons, etc.
The ability to grab attention is the reason sign makers like us get paid :-). Customers started demanding a solution for very bright coloured signs with low power consumption and none of the maintenance hassles inherent in gas-filled glass tubes.
The time was ripe for LEDs to fill in this demand gap, and LED manufacturers did not disappoint. And, they did so with an ingenious solution.
LED Neon Ropes – A More Modern and Energy Efficient Solution for Neon Light Signs
Neon glass tubes have been difficult to make and maintain, and thankfully, replaced of late by LED ropes. These ropes are tubular and can mimic the running, script letter form of older generation neon signboards.
But most importantly, these neon LEDs are available in beautiful eye-catching colours like fluorescent green, bright orange, peppermint blue, fluorescent pink, royal blue, etc. Also, since these ropes are made of flexible plastic as against glass, they are not prone to breakage. Moreover, neon LEDs consume a tiny fraction of the power of their glass tube counterparts.
LED Neon Signs Boards Can Only Have a Running Font Form Factor
Do remember that neon LEDs ropes are thin half an inch thick flexible tubes. So we can fabricate thin running font letters out of the same. But if your sign design is made up of thick blocky fonts, you might have to opt for the more conventional acrylic letters.
Moreover, what is a bright colour for some, may be too garish for others. A fluorescent pink letter might not be appropriate for a sober corporate sign. Use neon colours when you want to give a high energy, youthful look to a low-lit lounge bar. But you might be sending across the wrong message if the same were to be installed outside a doctor’s clinic.
Do have a look at the images showing examples of LED Neon signs boards.