{"id":34549,"date":"2017-12-06T10:03:48","date_gmt":"2017-12-06T15:03:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.signmedia.ca\/?p=34549"},"modified":"2017-12-06T10:03:48","modified_gmt":"2017-12-06T15:03:48","slug":"profile-neon-family","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.signmedia.ca\/profile-neon-family\/","title":{"rendered":"Profile: Neon Family"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
Photos courtesy Neon Family<\/span><\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

By Peter Saunders
\n<\/strong>G\u00e9rald Collard, a 40-year veteran of neon lighting and glass art, has collaborated on projects ranging from commercial neon signs to advertising campaigns to album art to light structures for stage and film sets. Today, he continues to serve a niche market for neon art from his Montreal design studio, dubbed \u2018Neon Family,\u2019 in an old industrial building across from the Lachine Canal.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have a very simple shop and it\u2019s fabulous because I am passionate about the work,\u201d he says. \u201cI don\u2019t know how long the current resurgence in neon\u2019s popularity will last, but we\u2019re getting lots of jobs and our clients love what we do.\u201d<\/p>\n

Inspired by illumination
\n<\/strong>Collard grew up in Sherbrooke, Que., where his interest in neon lighting was sparked by the large, luminous cross on Mont Bellevue. He began his career in a local sign shop before moving at the age of 20 to Montreal, where he knocked on the door of Claude Neon\u2014a well-established manufacturer named after Georges Claude, the French engineer and chemist who commercialized neon tube lighting in the early 1900s\u2014and asked for work.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat was 40 years ago, when Claude Neon was the exclusive manufacturer of neon signs using patented technology,\u201d he explains. \u201cI worked with them for three years, learning from the old-timers.\u201d<\/p>\n

Shortly thereafter, Claude Neon was acquired by Pattison Sign Group.<\/p>\n

\u201cI took that opportunity to start up a new, small shop called MLS Manufacturing, with my business partner, Paul Sicotte,\u201d Collard says. \u201cWe built miles and miles of lighting systems for disco mirror balls, flashing lamps and signs.\u201d<\/p>\n

After that business closed in 1992, Collard went back to working for other local sign companies. He also started to teach neon classes at Espace Verre, a prestigious specialty glass school in Montreal.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople came from all over the world for those classes,\u201d he says. \u201cWe helped them go on to open their own neon and glass shops throughout Quebec and Ontario. I\u2019ve worked at the school for 25 years and I continue to teach glass-blowing techniques there today.\u201d<\/p>\n

Old technology, new studio
\n<\/strong>Three years ago, following a nearly fatal bout with cancer, Collard established Neon Family, serving as president alongside his sister Lucie and his daughter Gabrielle.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had a new chance for life, so for the first time in my career, I opened my own shop,\u201d he says. \u201cIt was a very good decision. We have so much fun!\u201d<\/p>\n

As co-ordinator, Lucie is the first point of contact for clients, discussing the specifics of each job with them before defining the terms of the contract.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a lot to figure out at that stage,\u201d says Collard, \u201csuch as where the neon will be installed and how it will be supported. Lucie gets all of those questions answered before we start production.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gabrielle, meanwhile, serves as sales director, which involves promoting the business through social media\u2014including Facebook and Instagram\u2014and responding to new client inquiries that also arrive via the Internet.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe\u2019s the social media expert,\u201d says Collard. \u201cWe also have an artistic director, Stephane Gimbert, and a lead designer, Five Eight. I handle production and then work with our installer, Marcel Tremblay.\u201d<\/p>\n

Collard works with old burners, much as neon shops used in the 1920s.<\/p>\n

\u201cNothing has really changed in the fabrication of neon tube lighting,\u201d he says. \u201cWe have the same old vacuum pump, too.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Most of Neon Family’s work is custom interior signage.<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

An artistic resurgence
\n<\/strong>Most of Neon Family\u2019s work is custom interior neon signage for restaurants, where customers enjoy taking selfies with the distinctive lettering.<\/p>\n

\u201cI started in a very different phase of neon\u2019s evolution,\u201d says Collard. \u201cA lot of Montreal\u2019s older signs had been left to deteriorate and basically served as toilets for pigeons, but then neon came back in style in the 1970s with disco and the \u201980s with Miami Vice<\/em>. Today, it\u2019s back again, but in a more artistic way. With these smaller projects, we can put more time into them, so their design looks good even up close.\u201d<\/p>\n

Their clients also include office buildings, design firms and media production houses.<\/p>\n

\u201cExposed neon lettering is part of their decor and branding,\u201d Collard explains. \u201cWe do some channel letters too, but those mostly use light-emitting diodes (LEDs) now.\u201d<\/p>\n

There is less call for outdoor neon signage, due in part to heavier restrictions imposed by local regulations and bylaws, but also to Montreal\u2019s bitterly cold winters.<\/p>\n

\u201cMercury in glass tubes doesn\u2019t like the cold,\u201d says Collard. \u201cIn the \u201950s, there were maintenance trucks on the road all the time to keep the neon signs going, but that\u2019s not the case today. Outside, LEDs are getting all of the work.\u201d<\/p>\n

Continuing a legacy
\n<\/strong>As mentioned, Collard also continues to educate the next generation of neon glass tube benders.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been training a few guys to work with us,\u201d he explains. \u201cIt\u2019s a slow process. This isn\u2019t high-tech, it\u2019s from the Industrial Age. They\u2019re not autonomous just yet, but when they are, we\u2019ll be able to take on more projects. I\u2019m getting old and can\u2019t do everything anymore!\u201d<\/p>\n

Taking an active approach to training is especially important in a niche field. There aren\u2019t many other neon shops still operating in Montreal.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m also not too aware of opportunities in the broader sign industry, because our focus is so specific,\u201d he says. \u201cFortunately, in our market, people are aware of my experience and that has brought credibility to Neon Family. You might say we\u2019re known for our savoir-faire!\u201d<\/p>\n

For more information, visit www.neonfamily.com<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

G\u00e9rald Collard, a 40-year veteran of neon lighting and glass art, has collaborated on projects ranging from commercial neon signs to advertising campaigns to album art to light structures for stage and film sets. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":34554,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[66,58,17,19,68],"tags":[1702,201],"class_list":["post-34549","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-community","category-features","category-illuminated-signs","category-neon","category-sign-shop-profiles","tag-illumination","tag-quebec","entry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nProfile: Neon Family - Sign Media Canada<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.signmedia.ca\/profile-neon-family\/\" \/>\n<link rel=\"next\" href=\"https:\/\/www.signmedia.ca\/profile-neon-family\/2\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Profile: Neon Family - 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