Neon as a unique and timeless form of communication

Four years ago…. I remember it like it was yesterday, in mid-October 2016, I received a mysterious phone call asking me to take pictures of several spatial advertisements in the Tri-City. My first thought was - "I should take pictures of billboards and store advertisements… It makes no sense". But on the other hand, as a photographer, I always value gaining photographic experience in undiscovered areas. After the first meeting with the boss of the Pretende company, I knew that they would not be just some hanging advertisements, but creative, modern and elegant, unique and eye-catching spatial advertisements. Not only are there spatial letters decorating various entrances, but also LED illuminated letters, exclusive golden letters or futuristic inscriptions made of wooden and stainless steel letters. However, none of them delight me as much as neon ads!

This is how my four-year-long adventure with various neon signs all over Poland began. And all of them came from one studio located between Gdańsk and Sopot - Pretende.pl. And there is no neon sign among them to repeat.

Most of you might say that you would have gotten bored with taking another neon photo a long time ago (after all, 4 years is a long time). However, let me tell you that each new order is even more interesting than the previous one. It is related, among other things, to the development of neon ads over the past few years. During this time, the forms that neon advertisements took have changed completely. We used to be able to watch simple neon signs above the entrance to a shop or a fitting room. Now, neon signs have taken on completely new shapes of company logos, inscriptions several meters long on the walls of office buildings (inside and outside), people and objects. I would never have expected that neon lights would become such a universal creative and unique form of advertising. Over the years, they have found their way to the windows of branded salons. They decorated the walls of restaurants and cafes, and now they advertise the largest music festivals. The material from which they are made (I cannot reveal too many details) is so plastic that you can create almost any shape from it, and the availability of their colours is limited only by our imagination.

Interestingly, I see neon lights decorating the walls of… our apartments more and more often. Because there is no better way to create the atmosphere of a modern industrial interior than to order an original, glowing neon, which, illuminated in the evening, attracts the attention of all household members and guests. In addition, neon is a great gift idea! Each of us would like his apartment to be unique but in the style in which we feel best. Thus, the neon hanging on the wall will suit any interior - you just need to think what it is supposed to represent, choose its colour and the right place ...

During these few years of cooperation, I have visited over 150 places in our country where there are advertisements made by Pretende. Most of them have neon lights. There are still many places ahead of me that I have not managed to visit with my camera yet, including foreign ones, because recently the Pretende company has also sent neon signs abroad. One of them was, among others, at the opening of the first LPP store in London, which was hosted by the well-known top model Kate Moss.

And let me tell you that in my work as a Pretende photographer there is no time for boredom. Each new advertisement, especially the neon one, brings delight, a large dose of curiosity and the desire to have your own neon on the bedroom wall. But this is only after the next renovation ... although the idea for shape and colour is already here!