Matt Fuller collects all things Apple and he wanted a neon Apple logo to hang in his home to highlight his collection. Here’s his story, with the “making of” video below:

About a month ago I contacted Neon Shop Fishtail, a well-known neon shop in Chicago, and inquired about the possibility of fabricating a neon Apple logo for my suburban Chicago home.

I emailed the general email address on the neon website and quickly received a response from Tom Brickler, whom I later learned is the owner of the shop. I sent a Photoshop mockup of the idea I was envisioning. He told me that he liked the project and that he could start it later that week.

On a whim, I asked if the shop allowed customers to watch the fabrication of projects. I was very surprised when he invited me the next Friday afternoon. They not only allowed me to watch the fabrication, but they very generously allowed me to take photos and video, all captured on my iPhone 6.

The experience was fascinating to watch and I soon realized that the three men running the shop were extremely skilled craftsmen. Before I arrived, neon artist John Noga had already shaped three main parts of the logo, but had not yet fused them together. I was able to watch him create the leaf part of the logo from a straight white glass tube. He then trimmed and joined the larger pieces to form the lower apple part of the logo.

The next step was to bring the project to the basement where the two pieces were electrified with 15,000 volts of electricity, heating them to 550˚F to burn out the impurities inside the glass. The white tubes were then filled with argon gas to produce the white glow I had requested.

The last two steps, completed by Chevo Carreño, included “burning in” the tubes with electricity so they would glow evenly and then painting the non-glowing parts of the tubes. With the logo complete, I took it home that day.

This weekend I finished the installation. The logo is supported by clear plastic clips attached to the wall and the wiring is a simple series circuit that attaches to a dimmable transformer that plugs into a standard outlet. It was an easy job, except that I needed help mounting it high on the wall.

This is just badass!