We have a soft spot for characters, particularly when they're illuminated! Helsinki designer Aleksi Hautamaki recently birthed the simple but brilliant idea to refurbish and resell old signage. Typically the characters are demolished at the end of their lifespan...
But thanks to Hautamäki and Finnish retailer Armas Design (who together have created Character), old snazzy signage is getting a second chance at life, maybe in your kitchen or living room. Apparently the LED lights that are used to replace the worn out tube lighting inside the letters (and numbers!) last 30,000 hours. And according to the Character website most of the lights are also weatherproof.
The current, one-of-a-kind inventory ranges from 100 to 450 Euros ($145-$635) and a lot of the characters fall somewhere in between. We may have to restrain ourselves from getting that big, fat, green 9.
Thanks to Interior Design's blog for tipping us off to Character!
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Really cool!
view AustinSarah's profile
Have you checked whether they ship to the states? Or is this just a horrible decor tease?
view Kaisertizer's profile
OK, so I'm thinking this is a GREAT company for someone in the US to start. How hard can it be to switch out the old lights for new strings of LEDs?
Gotta get me some old letters at the flea market.
view Mary B C's profile
@Kaisertizer, there are plenty of country options on the registration form so I suppose they do ship overseas, but it might be quite costly.
view Marial's profile
Old flippin' news. Any idiot can do this - if you know where to look, you could do the same damn thing for practically nothing... and you want to order from overseas! SICK.
I see these letters tossed in dumpsters everyday in every city - most of the time with LEDs still in them. Get off your asses and make something of your own. Try and learn something instead of just throwing money at it.
view broccoli's profile