Neon is a vivid color that adds excitement to any design. But it’s important to know how to use neon effectively to avoid overwhelming your audience.
When you’re using neon, it’s best to keep other elements to a minimum. This bright shade doesn’t mix well with other colors — especially white — and can create a harsh contrast between your neon elements and the rest of your design. If you must include other elements, opt for dark backgrounds to make neon pop.
In the world of advertising, neon is most often used to draw attention to products or services. But you can also find it in signs that light up (like this one). Most of these lights contain argon instead of neon, though, since it’s cheaper to produce.
Most people think of neon as red, but it comes in a range of colors. The name “neon” is derived from the Greek word neos, meaning new. Neon was discovered in 1898 by Sir William Ramsay, a Scottish chemist, and Morris Travers, an English chemist. Ramsay and Travers were investigating liquefied air when they found krypton, argon, and neon gas. They were able to isolate neon by evaporating liquid argon and running it through an atomic spectrometer, which showed that the gas glowed a brilliant crimson.
Although neon doesn’t appear on the color wheel, it has a unique place in the periodic table. Neon is very electronegative, meaning it has more electrons than protons. This means that it repels other atoms and doesn’t bond with them, which makes it possible for neon to glow without losing its electrons.