Ruby Red Glass Neon Sign for Electric Cinema/SohoHouse

How was the Electric Cinema neon sign made?

The Electric Cinema neon sign in London’s Notting Hill is a much-photographed sign on Portabello Road. It’s absolutely stunning, and we were honoured when the cinema’s owner, Soho House Group, appointed Carousel Lights to produce an Electric Cinema neon sign for their Sister cinema in Shoreditch.

Back to basics with real glass neon lighting

The real glass neon sign was to be produced for the Shoreditch Electric Cinema using Ruby Red neon, set within trough style powdercoated steel lettering. The first neon sign for the Electric Cinema had been produced by a previous design team at Soho House, and we weren’t able to locate the details for the neon sign’s specification, meaning we didn’t have the all important colour references for the brand. We therefore all agreed to go back to the drawing board, and create a new neon sign based on nothing but the Electric Cinema’s graphic logo. The team had the style guide which specified the palette, including the beautiful red, but we didn’t that have the RAL reference which is what we need in order to paint the trough lettering. We therefore used our standard RAL guide to choose the closest red to the Pantone reference we had.

Electric Cinema neon sign – the devil in the detail

Once we had agreed the RAL colour and the neon glass colour for the Elecric Cinema neon [Ruby Red], we could easily produce a cutting file for the steelwork. Once cut and into shape, it was powdercoated with a satin finish. Fixing points were located on the rear of the neon sign, and neon tube supports were located into the trough in the correct position for where the neon glass tubes will need to be located once the trough lettering is located in its final position in the Electric Cinema in Shoreditch.

The Electric Cinema neon light install

With everything carefully measured (twice!), a 100% scale fitting template was printed out and used to position all of the elements on the wall. This means that the client can then approve it’s position before any works are started, making sure that everybody is happy with its intended location. The steel trough lettering is put on the wall first, and the neon is then positioned into the lettering and wired together. This means that there isn’t any opportunity for any of the neon glass to break when the steel lettering is being fixed into position.

The neon sign is then left on test for a period of time, and with everything neatly in position, the site is cleared. The brilliant advantage of using real neon and steel, is that it meets two of our key Environmental Criteria of being recyclable (the steel) and reusable (the neon glass). Real neon signs last for many many years, and if part of the glass breaks, then just that particular section of real neon can be remade and fitted into position. With relatively low operating costs on top, this is a great lighting solution for planet Earth 🙂