Project Overview
This Lotso neon sign was a personal project that I built from start to finish in about a month. The project involved art design and drawing in Illustrator, CAM, CNC cutting (wood prototype and final acrylic piece), wiring, and soldering. I created the final product with clear acrylic and flexible LED lights.
I drew the Lotso design myself in Adobe Illustrator. The lines in the design had to be precise lengths to match with the cutting location limitations of the flexible LED lights.
With the help of an engineering coworker from Level99, I set up the CAM on CamBam
Computer view while CNC cutting the piece
Lotso Neon Sign CNC WoodCNC cutting a prototype of the sign out of wood to test the process, design, and fit of the flexible LED lights
Wood prototype with flexible LED lights cut to length and inserted
Lotso Neon Sign CNC AcrylicCNC cutting the final sign out of clear acrylic
With the help of an engineering coworker from Level99, I drilled holes through the acrylic sign for the wires to go through to the back
Plan for wiring and soldering the flexible LED lights together
MIT Class
My Lotso neon sign was very popular among my networks when I shared photographs of my process, inspiring several of my friends to create their own signs! Most notably, my Lotso neon sign project even inspired a class at MIT taught in January 2023! An old classmate of mine at MIT loved my project and used it as inspiration for a class to teach the process of making at MIT! In the class, students would follow my process and create their own neon signs! I worked closely with her to share details of my process as well as advice and things that I had learned in creating my own sign.
Contact
508-404-3168 | leplatt@andrew.cmu.edu | Pittsburgh, PA | https://www.linkedin.com/in/laurenelizabethplatt/