How to build a huge, flashing billboard

I'm a party organiser from Amsterdam and I wanted something special and visual to decorate my events. I came up with the idea to have  a huge, flashing billboard build by a lighting company. This was way too expensive, so I decided to build one myself in the backyard. I had no previous experience with something like this and no real technical/electrical skills, so basically everybody should be able to do this. It cost me about € 500,- and three days of work. I think it turned out pretty decent...

Check out the after movie for my Queensday Event in Amsterdam below to see the end result in action. 

 

Step 1: 1. The Design

The parties I organise are called 'Cartel' and the logo is as shown above. The sign is 3,75m x 1,25m in total and each individual letter is 0,5m x 1m. The font of the logo was quite straight forward to resize. I advise using a fairly right-angled font/design. This will make placing the lights in a structural and pleasing way a lot easier.

Comments

[Valster]

I'm sure that when you look at it up close, all you see is painted plywood and lights. But from the audience perspective it's all "show" and "flash" - exactly the effect you were aiming for. It even looks great in daylight.

I especially like your logo font. The crooked "A", backwards "R" and the drop on the "T" are so creative and I agree with davidandora that it's perfect for this lighting effect.

I have no idea if I'll ever do something like this but I know I'll come back here for guidance.

NICE JOB!!

[Toastalicious]

I think the font he's going for as well as the red color is supposed to be reminiscent of the soviet union.

[teacherincharge58]

nice job

[davidandora]

I LOVE these carnival lights and have used them many times to add fun to a project. In the U.S., you can obtain them from a few sources, the best probably being Action Lighting.

http://www.actionlighting.com/carnival-lighting/

Your sign looks awesome! the logo lettering was especially excellent for this treatment! Great job!

[BamaBob]

Oh! This is good. Very good. I like this a lot!