TRANNS POKER SIGN

[JCinPA]

That

is

awesome

!

[Quads]

Sweet sign. It's no Quads Poker, but it's nice.

[Trann]

So some big-ass package arrived...

...and when I did not hear the *tink* *tink* of loose glass...

...and then there was concern at the state of the box...

...and then there was a bit more confidence...

...and then it looked like it was in one piece...

...and then I plugged it in...

...and when it didn't light, I realized it had a switch on the power cord...

...and when I plugged it in again...

...and then it lit up beautifully...



The Backstory...

Honestly, it was a huge surprise how well things turned out. As a design guy, there's a constant dual between how I imagine things can be and how the manufacturing process can make them happen.

To be a good design guy, you need to do your research and accomodate the process so that your imagined design will be very close to the final product. Even then, you rarely "win" and you have to accept there are limitations in the medium you're designing for.

So after looking extensively through Mike's site and seeing what was possible and how things were put together, I began my journey designing a fully custom sign.

The Design...

I used the Budweiser sign as a rough template for how my script font would look and the general size of the lettering...

I wanted to use cards and chips in my design but many of the poker themed neons out on the intertubes had me annoyed at the quality of the alignment...

...but Mike told me not to worry. His neons had far better quality in their construction than that.

So I didn't worry. Much.

The need to arrange the cards ordered backwards...

...and fanned with the ace in front...

...irked me greatly. I understand it looks nice with that big ace there but it was never right to me and I couldn't live with that in a design.

So I arranged it my way.

When I finally put the elements together, this was the first design I gave to Mike...

He knew this was going to be very large, perhaps too oversized for comfort, and asked if I could tighten the look up.

Not a problem. It was, I agreed, pretty airy to start so I pulled the cards together and reduced the height of the chip stacks and the result was this...

The Result...

Compare the design to the neon I received (ignore the packing material, naturally)...

...and you'll see that Mike is a man of his word: he made it happen without the sloppiness of some neons you might see out there.

I had fully expected to see some liberties taken with the surname script because there's only so much you can do with the medium. As long as things were straight, I was probably going to be happy with it. But when the neon came back following almost every nuanced bezier curve I had drawn in both the chips and the script, I was blown away.

This won't be hung for a bit as I have to retrofit a wall with a hidden outlet and dedicated switch but when that's done, I'll provide the update picture.

Fantastic work, Mike!

[Quads]

Outstanding review.
Great looking sign.

When does Gator get to hang it in his poker room?

[TheNeonFactory]

Thanks for the great review!!!

I can't wait to see it hung.

[Trann]

Ooo, another package!



Firm styrofoam outer shell...



Extra foam inside and... *bubble wrap* thrown in!



There she be...



...all lit up and no place to hang...



Yet: note that there are two triangle hangers near the harp for easy mounting.

At first I thought the logo was a "print" but it appears that it's really machine etched into the back side of the plexi/acrylic and that gives it the bevel effect under lighting. It's rather cool. (Edit: Yeah, it's etched. Mike's original thread says as much)

Time to start wall fitting and retro-wiring...

[SniperD5]

Originally Posted by Trann

Fuck, now I'm regretting not ordering one too. I'm pretty sure once I see this in your house, mike can expect an order within a couple days.

[Trann]

You can have mine for $80.

[BillyGoat]

That poker sign is freakin awesome Trann. Great design, great work on the finished product Neon Factory!

[Trann]

The neon finally has a home...