{"id":51754,"date":"2019-04-01T08:36:02","date_gmt":"2019-04-01T15:36:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/creativemarket.com\/blog\/?p=51754"},"modified":"2024-04-18T02:35:03","modified_gmt":"2024-04-18T09:35:03","slug":"design-trend-report-neon-design","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/creativemarket.com\/blog\/design-trend-report-neon-design","title":{"rendered":"Design Trend Report: Neon Design"},"content":{"rendered":"

Neon design <\/strong>is instantly recognizable. Anytime you see that bright and distinctive glow piercing through the darkness, you know what you’re looking at. Based on the chemical element with atomic number 10 and identified by its symbol Ne, neon design doesn’t have a multitude of commercial uses, but that hasn’t stopped this design trend<\/a> from making a huge, cultural impact all throughout the 20th<\/sup> century.
\nFrom glowsticks at parties and large, gaudy signage to pop culture trademarks like the 1980s<\/a> Miami Vice<\/em> TV show font, this dazzling design trend brings up images of downtown districts and entertainment hotspots like Las Vegas. For some designers, it may bring up a few challenges due to its flashy nature, though, but figuring out how to incorporate this trend into new projects for clients is where the true fun lies.
\nHere’s your crash course on everything neon design.

<\/span>The History of Neon Design<\/span><\/h2>

To figure out where exactly this trend came from, odd as it may sound, we have to go back to the very beginning with the discovery of this noble gas back in 1898. English chemists Sir William Ramsay and Morris W. Travers were the first to discover this gas, along with krypton and xenon as part of the same process. Ramsay chilled a supply of air so that it became liquid; he then warmed up said liquid and captured the ensuing gases as they boiled off. The gas that gave off a vibrant red light underneath a spectroscopic discharge was—you guessed it—neon.
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Image Credit: Victor Rodriguez<\/a><\/h6>

As Travers noted:
\n“…the blaze of crimson light from the tube told its own story and was a sight to dwell upon and never forget.â€
\nIn the same way that its discoverer was mesmerized by its brilliant color<\/a>, neon has enthralled generations of people for more than 100 years. Since its first appearance in a controlled setting in Ramsay’s and Travers’ London laboratory, the element has gone on to leave a mark in the world of design.
\nIt took a short while for this element to find its groove, but, nonetheless, after its discovery, it was immediately put to use in scientific instruments as well as curiosities.
\nSlowly but surely, it began to be adapted for more widescale use in two forms it’s still widely used today, signage and lighting, where we see the element’s transition for use in neon design.
\nAfter 1902, the company of Georges Claude, seen as the pioneer of neon lighting’s commercialization, started to manufacture large-scale quantities of the element, as a fortunate byproduct of his air-liquefication company. He invented what we call today the Claude system for air liquefication (where gas is physically converted into a liquid).
\nThe result of this was apparent in 1910’s Paris Motor Show, where Claude for the first time ever showed off two, giant, red neon tubes that were used to light up the peristyle (a continuous porch that typically envelops a building’s perimeter or courtyard) of the exhibition hall called the Grand Palais. This event marked the first time that neon lighting was used in the way we know it today.
\nAfter this successful display of the captivating quality of neon design, the sky was the limit for this then-nascent trend. Jacques Fonseque, Claude’s business associate, immediately saw the potential that lighting and signage of this nature would have for advertising.
\nIn one of the earliest forms of a creative marketing strategy, in 1913, a huge neon sign for Italy’s Cinzano, a brand of vermouth, lit up the Paris night sky. In 1919, the Paris Opera was also illuminated by neon tube lighting. Needless to say, the dawn of neon design was seizing the imagination of people in the early 20th<\/sup> century.
\nFor a glimpse into just how captivating this design trend can be, take a look at some of our neon-inspired digital assets:<\/p>

Claude’s successes with these marketing experiments helped to give him access to the bigger American market, where his neon design was received with quite the enthusiasm. By 1915, Claude already held a US design patent for the electrodes found in gas-discharge lighting. This patent empowered Claude’s company to monopolize the US market as far as neon signage was concerned, all the way into the 1930s.
The seminal event in the U.S. that ensured Claude’s success in bringing this design trend to American shores was businessman Earle C. Anthony’s acquisition of two neon signs from Claude. They were to be used at his Los Angeles Packard automobile dealership in 1923. Anthony had great success drawing the attention of passing motorists with his highly luminous signage.
After other businesses saw how Anthony made out with his signage experiment, they quickly set up franchises with Claude in order to manufacture their own neon signs.
By the early 1930s, the neon design business in the U.S. had swelled to almost $17 million, a significant number back then. After Claude’s US patent expired, the neon signage industry only grew more rapidly as others jumped into the fray to produce their own signage.
Since the discovery of neon at the turn of the 20th<\/sup> century, the growth of the neon industry was pretty much non-stop, but this finally hit a snag when World War II started in 1939. This was not an uncommon phenomenon back then, as various other design trends were impacted or hindered when World War II broke out. For example, Art Deco<\/a>, which had been a powerhouse in both pop culture and architecture throughout the 1920s and 1930s, saw its dominance come to an end when hostilities erupted.
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Image Credit: Video Blocks<\/a><\/h6>

Unlike Art Deco, however, neon design would see a resurgence of sorts after World War II was decisively won by the Allies in 1945. The post-war era, itself a period of growth for design trends like Mid-Century Modern<\/a>, was marked by a boom period in construction that saw neon become an integral part of some of the new, streamlined designs of the late 1940s and 1950s. One prominent example was Las Vegas, which was being developed into a resort destination; due to its attractions and hotels, demand for items like neon signage skyrocketed. This legacy and association with everything neon is still very visible today when you drive through the city.
Las Vegas, due to its resort status, was a notable exception, however, because the rest of the country, not being in the same situation, didn’t follow suit. As a result, the demand for this design trend gradually declined throughout the 1950s. Maybe it was the gaudiness or the excess, but some jurisdictions actually started to deter the use of neon displays with strategies like ordinances. Plus, fluorescent-lighted plastic was become the lighting choice of its day, replacing this element.
If you thought this was the end of neon design—think again!
It experienced another resurgence in the mid to late 1980s, thanks in part to something called channel lettering. This was custom-made plastic or metal lettering for signage that was utilized in public and commercial settings, typically illuminated from within the structure. Neon design was prevalent in pop culture, too, with shows like Miami Vice<\/em> using these neon colors everything from the opening of the show (the typography) to the backdrops of various scenes.
While the trend has petered out again since the 1980s, it’s being kept alive by specific projects and artists intentionally using this element in their designs.<\/p>

<\/span>The Characteristics of Neon Design<\/span><\/h2>

Now that you know about the history of this design trend being firmly rooted in advertising, it’s to be expected that its traits are geared toward capturing people’s attention, which is putting it mildly. This trend is meant to be loud, flashy and perhaps even a little bit kitschy. That’s just part and parcel of the charm of using neon in your design projects.
Look for the following qualities in any project that uses this style:<\/p>