New Home: Shawback Design Moves to Bell Signs Building

Shawback Design started the New Year with a new home. They moved into 2325 First St. Napa, a one-story industrial warehouse built in 1960 that, at 6,374 SF, can house their design business and manufacturing for their bicoastal lighting partnership, Brightbound. The space is also the former home to Bell Signs, which prints custom signage and repairs landmark neon signs around Napa and Solano Counties. LED lights often replace vintage neon lighting, but neon's brightly glowing, electrified signage etched against the evening sky evokes a nostalgic world.

Uptown Theatre, Napa Ca. Photo, Mitchell Glotzer

Bell Signs restored the Uptown Theatre neon sign at the First Street location. The six 3-foot-tall letters date from 1937, and Bell Signs' neon artist Jim Bertuzzi completely refurbished about 1,000 feet of neon. Bertuzzi also created the neon signage for Bounty Hunter Wine Bar & Smokin' BBQ in downtown Napa. Design and craft will continue in the former Bell Signs building with Shawback Design and Brightbound. Brightbound specializes in artisanal lighting combining hand-blown glass, hand-finished wood, and metals machined using traditional and contemporary techniques.

Brightbound, Gemma Chandelier, Backen & Backen Architecture, St. Helena, Ca. Photographer: Adam Potts