Havelock North man lighting up Los Angeles for the stars

Radikal Neon co-owners outside their Los Angeles store, Brandon Ransfield from Havelock North (left) and founder Tom Numan from Christchurcht. Photo / Supplied

Brandon Ransfield was close to living a nice safe 'white picket fence' life in Hawke's Bay.

But some advice from his mum has seen him creating bright lights in Los Angeles with a business attracting celebrity clientele, and rubbing shoulders with stars at pre-Oscar parties.

The 28-year-old and his business partner Tom Numan took their neon sign and design talents to Los Angeles in August with their business Radikal Neon.

Only a few months later they were getting called to serve up lighting for the Oscars pre-party, Justin Bieber and high profile companies such as Twitch, Disney, Apple, Heineken, and Netflix.

Ransfield said he has been in signage his whole life.

"My parents are Willy and Nat, who own Design Studio, a design and signage firm that started in Havelock North in the early 2000s. I guess that's where I got my creative flare."

He grew up in Havelock North on Te Mata Rd, "a stone throw away from the 4 square".

The company makes LED neon lights rather than glass gas neon because it is sustainable, cheaper and more versatile for people to have in homes as well as events and venues. Photo / Supplied

He got his bachelors degree in Visual communication and Design at Massey University in Wellington and met Numan there.

"We met at university in 2013 at Sandwiches Bar.

"It was quite funny, Tom and I always wanted to work together. We were collaborating a lot back in Aotearoa, and now here we are making neon signs in Los Angeles, California."

Radical Neon was founded by Numan in 2016.

Ransfield said Numan convinced him to go with him to find a physical location for the business in the United States in 2019 but the pandemic completely derailed those plans.

"We actually had flights to Cali[fornia] and a commercial lease locked in for Radikal Neon 2019 and then boom the pandemic happened."

He said his mum convinced him to go through with the plan and leave his existing business, Rans Creative, running in New Zealand.

"She was like 'you either stay here and do well with Rans Creative or you bite the bullet and just give it a go over there' and I am glad she did say that too.

"I was very close to staying home and having the classic white picket fence life, not that there is anything wrong with that," he laughs.

Ransfield working on the interior design of the Radikal Neon premises on Melrose Ave in Los Angeles. Photo / Supplied

"I didn't want to stay back home in New Zealand saying 'should have, would have, could have'."

Ransfield now co-owns the company with Numan.

He said most of their high profile clients have just started with a simple phone call.

"It was just a phone call, Jaz who was hosting the pre-party for the Oscars gave us a call and said 'hey, we want a couple of signs for the Oscars event'."

Ransfield (left) with Liam Payne of One Direction at the Oscars pre-party. Photo / Supplied

He said while there was a bit more competition in the neon sign space now, most of it was online.

Radikal Neon's website allows sign buyers to instantly see what the product will look like, and order online, but their shop is a point of difference.

"I think we are ahead of the market because we've got a shopfront that people can come and visit, interact, and talk."

"We aren't just an online company sitting behind a screen. we've got a shop in Los Angeles and New Zealand (Herne Bay, Auckland)."

He said he and Numan were in it for the long run and they plan to possibly expand may come down the track.

"You've got to crawl before you walk and walk before you run, but we've got plans to open up other Radikal Neons here in the United States."