Great Beginnings (3)

Originally uploaded by SqueakyMarmot

Not just any neon sign, but something almost 50 feet tall hung from the Chinatown parkade at the corner of Quebec and Keefer. The official lighting of the sign takes place on Monday March 15, 2010 at 6:00pm.

It’s gratifying to see my chicken scratches on paper show up in three dimensions. Of the three initial ideas for the sign – high tech LEDs, traditional dragons, or something modern that evoked the golden age of neon in Chinatown – the latter option was selected.

The design evolved from very preliminary sketches to something ready to send to the sign company artists through some very good meetings and discussions. There were lots of tweaks to the design once the proposals came back from the sign company, the best one being the ribbon which helped tie the whole thing together and provide just a hint of a dragon. Galaxie Signs deserves a lot of credit for making this project such a success.

Flickr user Squeaky Marmot caught the sign during a test lighting.