Follow Multimedia Journalist Bonnie Jansen as she asks the patrons of ACC's party at Sweat Shop Brew Kitchen about their predictions for the Super Bowl, and Taylor Swift's involvement. Videography / Carson Bluck / Edit / Ben Dickens
What does it feel like to shine a (neon) light on some of Hollywood’s biggest heavyweights? From Hawke’s Bay to LA, Brandon Ransfield has taken his fluorescent dreams worldwide and recently completed a neon signage contract for one of the world’s biggest sporting events. Mitchell Hageman reports.
It’snot every day you get a call from Hollywood actor Steven Seagal wanting you to spruce up the letterbox of his Los Angeles home.
But for Radikal Neon directors Brandon Ransfield and Tom Numan, it’s a surprisingly common occurrence to rub shoulders with United States celebrities.
“I was talking to him and needed his last name for the invoice, and I was shocked when he revealed he was actually Steven Seagal,” Ransfield said.
Speaking to Hawke’s Bay Today off the back of completing a tender for the Super Bowl, one of the America’s biggest sporting events, Ransfield said positive feedback about Radikal Neon’s impressive neon fittings is what makes the Kiwi business so successful in LA social circles.
“They only asked us the day before, and we managed to perform. You kind of drop everything that’s in the pipeline when it’s jobs like that.”
Radikal Neon was founded by Numan in New Zealand in 2016. Ransfield had been in the signage business for most of his life, and once the pair saw the potential for business in LA, they applied for visas to make their neon dreams come true overseas.
“We got our visas in 2019, which was an absolute nightmare going back and forth. We finally got them signed off in December 2019, and then Covid hit,” Ransfield said.
“We were in New Zealand for the whole of 2020, wasting our visas. We finally moved over in 2021 smack bang in the middle of the pandemic.”
Local operations now span New Zealand, the US, Canada, and the United Kingdom. A whirlwind three years have seen the pair light everything from Coachella to the Oscars pre-party.
“We’re doing a lot of stuff for large companies like Bud Light, Michelob Ultra, Coachella just to name a few. We also did the Oscars pre-party in 2022, and that was fun as well.”
Ransfield said neon technology had changed a fair bit since its heyday in the 1980s.
“The old traditional glass neon from the ‘80s is injected with gas to give it illumination. It’s not as sustainable and very fragile. What we offer is LED neon, which is basically LED strips with a rubber channel over the top to distribute the light evenly to give the same effect as neon,” he said.
“Don’t get me wrong, though, we still absolutely love the retro glass neon and still offer that service as well.”
Radikal Neon secured a lucrative contract for the 2024 Super Bowl in the US.
The Hollywood heavyweights are not just asking for neon anymore; the demand for Ransfield’s signwriting services has also prompted him to run a new venture concurrently.
“We’ve also opened a new business, Radikal Signs. Because my background is in signage, people come into the shop asking for neon but also interior signage and signage on parts of their building.”
While the LA heat and lifestyle have appealed to Ransfield, he said he always looks forward to coming home to New Zealand.
“I get a little homesick seeing all my friends and family enjoy a Kiwi summer out on boats and at the beach, but that’s why I come back around Christmas time to enjoy the NZ summer!”
And his advice for anyone wanting to get into the neon business?
“You’re going to want to start at a signage shop. If you want to learn physical skills, you have to get your hands dirty.”
Mitchell Hageman joined Hawke’s Bay Today in January 2023. From his Napier base, he writes regularly on social issues, arts and culture, and the community. He has a particular love for stories about ordinary people doing extraordinary things.
