Posts tagged neon
Friseur
Berlin, Germany
Pascal Duez
That mark above the ‘u’ is not an umlaut (ü). As Florian Hardwig explains:
The bar or hook is a “courtesy mark” (as Ken Barber calls it) a courtesy to the reader to emphasize that this is a ‘u’ and not an ‘n’. I use the tag “u distinguisher”.
The u hook was a common means in German handwriting and was indispensable with the zigzag style of Kurrentschrift. It has survived in some more contemporary (script) lettering styles.
Related and confusing: the habit of putting a (straight) bar on the ‘n’, to denote a double ‘n’.
(via fleurs-coiffeur-liqueur)
Blumenhaus Wittelsbach
Munich, Germany
Florian HardwigClick the detail shot to see it large. If you have ever bent neon you see more than a nice sign here. You see evidence of painstaking effort from the hands of an experienced craftsman. Those sharp corners (such as in the ‘n’ and ‘u’ or at the end of the ‘t’ crosses where the glass goes back into the metal) are incredibly difficult to make without misshaping the glass. Usually you’ll see a slight dent at these bends. This is a work of honor and pride where no corners were cut. Signs like these were made to last, recognizing that each will be seen by thousands, perhaps millions, over its lifetime.
Precision neon is a wonder to behold, particularly if you’ve stumbled through a bending class like I have.
Neon in Nürnberg, Germany (by Goran Patlejch)
New York in Lights by Chateau Bezerra
(via Maury Postal and photomuchacho)
There a Tad’s Steaks in San Francisco too. It’s one of my favorite signs. I hear the steaks aren’t as good as the neon.
