Typowalks Innsbruck
Fünf Streifzüge in die Welt der Zeichen und Schriften des öffentlichen Raums.
Neon Light. The city, illuminated at night, once stood for prosperity and consumption. Today, individual neon fonts are experiencing a revival and are also a means of artistic expression.
Close to the roof of the Tyrolean State Museum Ferdinandeum you can see a neon lettering by Christoph Hinterhuber. Since 2003, the Tyrolean artist has developed several neon works for public spaces, but also for galleries and exhibitions.
For the great majority of advertising lighting, the neon tube is no longer of significance, but in the context of hip little stores in urban environments, they are experiencing a revival again.
On the store of the long-established company Weithas, there is a very old, illuminated lettering: The beautiful combination of an italic and a serif typeface dates back to the 1960s.
The confectionery specialist Rajsigl in Innsbruck's Maria-Theresien-Strasse has been advertising with neon-lit lettering for a long time.
How are neon
signs made?
The production of neon lettering is still done by hand in neon glass-blowing shops and is thus the exact opposite of an industrial mass-manufactured product. The craft is no longer pursued by many. In this video, produced in 2017 for the exhibition "Urbantypes" at the Tyrolean design forum WEI SRAUM, glassblower Silvia Lutz describes the technique and background of the production. Helmut Haid, managing director of the company Lichthaus Haid, talks about the development of illuminated advertising, regional and global differences, and the future of the industry.
Production: Karen Gleissner, Nicola Weber
Camera: Gerhard Berger
Editing, sound & music: STUMMLAUT Tonstudio
May 2017
all walks
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