{"id":54061,"date":"2019-07-03T17:49:36","date_gmt":"2019-07-03T21:49:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/?p=54061"},"modified":"2021-10-11T13:25:27","modified_gmt":"2021-10-11T17:25:27","slug":"how-neon-lights-up-wework-space","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/workspace-solutions\/flexible-products\/how-neon-lights-up-wework-space","title":{"rendered":"How neon lights up WeWork space"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Jeremiah Britton, art director of WeWork\u2019s Creative Studio, remembers the neon sign created for WeWork 222 Broadway<\/a>, the company\u2019s first headquarters in New York City.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe had just started to dabble in the idea of doing interior art and graphics,\u201d he says. \u201cWe didn\u2019t have murals or neon signs or custom art pieces. We thought it would be a really cool opportunity if our front desk had a neon sign, so we did one that said, \u2018Never Settle.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The enthusiastic response gratified the team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOur employees, as well as WeWork members, loved seeing these, whether they were mantras or fun local illustrations illuminated as neon signage,\u201d he says. \u201cIt organically happened as one project and then turned into a WeWork standard.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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WeWork 195 Montague St<\/a> in Brooklyn, New York.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Britton says his team has learned a lot since that first neon was created in 2013. One of the first lessons was that depicting words in bent-glass tubing is more difficult than it seems. For example, it might not be possible to represent the tight curves of an R or sharp changes in direction of a W if the lettering is too small.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then there was the effect that different neon colors can have on people trying to get some work done. They found that attention-grabbing colors like orange shouldn\u2019t be used in places where people need to concentrate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Within a year after WeWork\u2019s first neon, slogans like \u201cHustle Harder\u201d or \u201cCarpe Diem\u201d gave way to more creative imagery. Britton says that WeWork 5792 W Jefferson Blvd<\/a> in Los Angeles, with a neon sign depicting fingers spelling out the letters L and A, was one of the first to experiment with more inventive signage. \u201cFrom there,\u201d he says, \u201cit just exploded.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n

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1. WeWork Seolleung III<\/a> in Seoul. 2. WeWork 114 William St <\/a> in Melbourne. 3. WeWork Iceberg<\/a> in Tokyo.<\/div>\r\n <\/div>\r\n\n\n\n

That first image gave way to dozens more around the world, from a thumbs-up or peace sign to a palm tree or some waves. Designs are sketched out on paper and fabricated at a New York studio called Let There Be Neon<\/a>, which creates works for artists like Tracey Emin, Doug Wheeler, and Martin Creed. The whole process takes four to six weeks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A flaming ice cube at WeWork Iceberg<\/a> in Tokyo is a tongue-in-cheek play on the building\u2019s name. \u201cThe idea was that it may be the Iceberg building, but we\u2019re going to set it on fire and bring it to life with our vibrancy, our energy, and our people,\u201d Britton explains.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At WeWork\u2019s West Coast HQ in San Francisco, neon animated Rock-Em Sock-Em Robots<\/a> battle it out, reacting to each other from their respective sides of a pantry wall. As one robot punches, the other one leans away. Sometimes one\u2019s head pops up when its opponent lands a punch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt took a lot of us working with the vendor to figure out the timing,\u201d says Britton. \u201cBecause it\u2019s one thing to draw the illustration but it\u2019s another to figure it out so it looks like they\u2019re actually boxing each other.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Other designs include outlining the front desk at New York\u2019s WeWork 125 W 25th St<\/a> with neon, creating an \u201cexplosion\u201d of color.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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WeWork Spring Tower<\/a> in Bangkok.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

WeWork amps up neon by placing it between mirrors. \u201cAll of a sudden,\u201d says Britton, \u201cyou have millions of concentric circles going into this wall. Or it says, \u2018Hello\u2019 or \u2018What\u2019s Up?\u2019 a million times, because it\u2019s getting reflected back and forth inside of this little mirror box. That\u2019s a cool, modern take on something traditional.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

More recently, Britton says, designers have created neon for some of the companies who have taken space in a WeWork building or have asked WeWork to design their own headquarters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019re working with clients who expect our WeWork aesthetic to be put through their lens,\u201d says Britton. \u201cSo they already have that understanding and get really excited. They end up being much more interested in fun, quirky things, like a squirrel eating a piece of pizza, as opposed to their logo.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Britton says that there\u2019s a joy in working with a medium that can simultaneously seem old-fashioned and cutting edge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPart of the magic is that it\u2019s not new technology,\u201d says Britton. \u201cNeon has been around since the 1920s. It\u2019s really cool to have this very old, blue-collar craft now be fine art and so much a part of our contemporary language.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n