I was hired by Jamie Zawinski to design and build a pair of signs for the legendary DNA Lounge.

There had been a long-running joke that the DNA Lounge had some kind of curse on it that prevented it from ever getting an actual sign installed. It was a favorite haunt when I lived in SF, so I decided to wade in and see if I could change things when I heard.

Well, the curse hit hard, first busting the plasma cutter I was using at Tech Shop, and then spooking a streak of contractors who decided hanging signs was something they, on second thought, didn’t feel comfortable doing. Fortunately, after the sign was briefly impounded by a contractor who wanted the DNA to pay him to make a second sign, rather than install the first, we got John Law (the neon sign historian and Burning Man co-founder, not the economist) to finally drive the sign into the facade.

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I handled the mechanical design, toolpath generation, plasma cutting, welding, and finishing on this project. John built the structural case that anchored the sign into the building. You can learn a bit more about the fabrication process here, and the backstory on the DNA Lounge Blog.