The brief

Maki & Ramen’s noodle and sushi bar at Braehead stands out in the open in the middle of the mall, a timber-slatted counter under a canopy of blossom. It needed to be seen from the escalators and across the floor, and to say what it serves before anyone reads a menu.

We lit the slatted front with LED neon in two colours: NOODLE & SUSHI BAR in pink, and the Japanese for sushi and ramen in green. Each piece is 6 mm neon flex set into channels routed into a 5 mm clear acrylic backing, so the glass-like letters float on the timber with nothing else showing.

At the end of the counter, the Maki & Ramen bowl logo is drawn in pink, green and red neon, 1185 mm across, with MAKI & RAMEN in neon below it, fixed through the faux foliage wall on extended locators.

Above the counter, the name runs four metres across the fascia in built-up, rimless letters: 70 mm deep aluminium with black returns, 10 mm opal acrylic faces and cool white LEDs inside, so the faces glow evenly.

Before anything was made, the client signed off drawings of every sign, with the sizes, colours and fixings set out.

Proofs and design

Drawn before it’s made.

Every job starts with a visual and drawings for the client to approve. Production starts once the proof is signed off.

The neon drawings, with the sizes and fixings for each sign.

Drawing of the MAKI & RAMEN fascia letters in white on black, 4009 mm wide — The fascia: 4009 × 505 mm of built-up letters.

Section through a fascia letter: 3 mm aluminium backtray with LED units, 0.9 mm aluminium returns coated RAL 9005, a 10 mm opal acrylic face and fixings through into the substrate — Section through a letter: backtray, LEDs, returns and opal face.

The spec

What we made.

NOODLE & SUSHI BAR

6 mm pink LED neon flex
Set into channels routed into 5 mm clear acrylic letters
Fixed on pop locators to the slatted counter front
4000 mm wide, 172 mm cap height

Japanese lettering

6 mm green LED neon flex in a channelled 5 mm clear acrylic back
Clear 5 mm acrylic front plate
Fixed with clear locators through both plates to the slatted front
2196 × 400 mm

Bowl logo

6 mm LED neon flex in pink, green and red
Channelled 5 mm clear acrylic backing panel, 1185 × 990 mm
MAKI & RAMEN in neon below, 1200 mm wide
Fixed on extended pop locators through the faux foliage wall

Fascia letters

Built-up rimless letters, 70 mm deep, 4009 × 505 mm overall
0.9 mm aluminium returns coated RAL 9005 black
10 mm opal acrylic faces
Aluminium backtrays with cool white LEDs, fixed through into the existing framework

The finished job

Made and fitted.

MAKI & RAMEN in lit white letters on a black fascia above timber-slatted counters, with geisha murals on the walls — The illuminated MAKI & RAMEN fascia above the counter.

The bar at Braehead, neon reflected in the floor.

A noodle bar that glows across the mall.