The shape of a neon light all comes down to how the glass is blown and bent, and as for color, that can depend. Neon itself glows red, but sometimes it appears differently when the glass it's ...

By the late 1960s, the introduction of plastics led to a decrease in the popularity of glass-tubed neon signs. LED lights came later and cut into neon's share of the sign market yet again.

Jive Lau holds an illuminated neon light at his studio in Hong Kong, China, on May 16. Noemi Cassanelli/CNN. A neon sign titled “Maracas Fiesta” hangs on the wall of Jive Lau's studio.

Neon signs operate through a simple, yet elegant, mechanism. Glass tubes are filled with noble gases such as neon or argon. When high voltage is applied, the gas becomes ionized, emitting light ...