The Official Manufacturing Company

It was May of 2010 and The Oregon Symphony Orchestra just won the opportunity to perform at Carnegie Hall on May 12, 2011, but lacked proper funding to actually make the trip a reality.

But Thomas Lauderdale had a plan. Inspired by the M/EAT sign we designed & built for Olympic Provisions, he commissioned us to create a giant neon sign that would count down the days, hours, minutes and seconds until the performance was to happen. He wanted to have a palpable visual statement to live in the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall for Portland’s fine arts community, to inspire people to donate to the trip fund.

Luckily for us, our buddy David Neevel is a weirdo genius and loves projects like this. That countdown wouldn’t be a countdown with out him and his arduinos. The day we debuted the sign was a blur: at a very posh dinner at a downtown hotel, we pulled away a black curtain (literally) at the prompt of former governor Barb Roberts: ”Take it away boys!”

The fact that no one was electrocuted during this process is a miracle. Chalk this one up under one of the weirdest and funnest challenges we’ve had to date.