A bright idea: 10 questions with replica LED sign artist Vince DiMella

If you’re plugged into local neighborhoods, then you’ve seen the signs: Those neon, glowing gateways that welcome you into unforgettable pockets of San Diego like North Park, Hillcrest, Normal Heights, Carlsbad, Encinitas, and many others.

One Solana Beach local saw the sign, too — and took it as his sign to launch a bright business venture. Vince DiMella runs Category6LED and designs mini, replica LED neighborhood signs of the community staples we know and love.

In the process, he’s become deeply connected with the people + places locals call home. We asked him 10 questions about his work — and the spark behind it all.

Q: How did the idea to replicate these well-known community signs spark?

A: I started this project in Solana Beach because I’ve lived in Solana Beach for the past 27 years, via Sunset Cliffs + Point Loma. I would run by the pink Solana Beach sign down in front of the beach with my surfboard; I’d hang out at the restaurants and bars down there, and I’d walk and I’d stroll my kid around when she was in a stroller — now she’s 15 — so we did everything around that pink sign. Our whole lives were raised around that sign. When you really look back on it, you realize how much it’s been part of your life.

I’m sure it’s the same if you ask that question to somebody in University Heights — I walked my kid under that sign, my kid’s 25 now. We used to go to the festivals under the sign, we’d go to restaurants — we’d do everything under that sign.

My concept came from just being in front of it and having such a love for the community and appreciation for it, and just knowing everybody in town.

I’d stand and look at the [Solana Beach] sign and I’d see a letter burned out or not on for whatever reason, and I would always say in my head, “Why’s the sign out? What’s wrong?” And I would never really talk to other people about it, but then I’d hear someone else say, ‘Wow that letter’s burned out,’ and I’d be like, ‘Oh wow, people do recognize it like I do.’ So I decided to make these little versions of it.”

Q: What was the first sign you made?

A: Solana Beach. I made this proof of concept and found manufacturing. We launched at Christmas last year. I didn’t just want to start with one community — I needed to get proof of concept — so I was like, “Ok, let’s do Encinitas, let’s do Carlsbad, let’s do Solana Beach, and let’s do something inland, like Hillcrest. I mean Hillcrest would love something like this.”

I came home and I literally drew with paper, pencil, I sized it (shows SDtoday Editor Monica the original sketches). I did them with colored pencil and I cut out silhouettes of 8x20, 9x22, 6x15 and looked at sizes, to get a visual.

I located a partner and we did some first samples based off my sketches and they came back pretty darn good. We made some little adjustments and ordered 50 of each, and we started with 200 units — 50 of all four communities.

Q: Tell us about your experience launching this project:

A: With this project, it’s been outstanding because I get into the communities and I learn that people from University Heights, Normal Heights, Little Italy + North Park have the same passion and excitement for their communities as we do on the coastline. It’s not really much different. Stepping out and doing this project has been amazing, so fun, so fulfilling.

Q: What’s your best-selling sign?

A: To date, either Solana Beach or Carlsbad. I’d say 60% of customers are locals and 40% are tourists.

Q: How do the signs work? Plug-in or USB cable?

A: They plug in. The LED makes them energy-efficient.

Q: What’s your favorite real-life community sign in San Diego County and why?

A: I don’t know why, but I’ve got a connection to the University Heights one. Maybe it’s because it’s the first sign I did that had dual coloring — where I used two LEDs on it, a red and a white. All my initial ones, I was still learning, so my Solana Beach one is all pink. The first Carlsbad one I did was all white — I used a white border and white LED for the Carlsbad lettering but the sign actually had a yellow border and the font was slightly different. So, then I went and did the two-color there.

But the first one I did with two colors was University Heights. And the sign itself, it’s shaped like a train and it’s going over the street and, I don’t know, it just has so much appeal. But, of course, also Solana Beach, because that’s where it all began, right?

Q: What has been the reception from locals?

A: Everyone comes back and says we love what you guys are doing. I probably get 10 emails a week for custom stuff. It’s getting contagious and spreading. They’re feeling the same passion that we’re delivering. We’ve been really lucky. The response, the feedback has been beyond my expectations.

Q: Describe a bit about the creative process of making a sign, the materials, etc.

A: We’re not making up or changing the sign — we’re replicating what they’ve done and putting our flavor into it and making sure everything’s done to perfection.

The original signs, the ones you see in the streets, they’re made of neon, and neon is glass-blown. It’s expensive, it’s brittle, it’s probably tough to ship. So, we use LED stripping. LED is huge in lighting and a lot of consumer products because it’s long-lasting. It doesn’t get hot; it’s energy-efficient. In this case, the LED gives off the same appeal as a neon light, but it’s probably 10-20% of the cost as neon. We wanted to share this with more people that can enjoy it.

We’re using an acrylic base and an acrylic upper. We laser-cut the art out, then it gets UV, pad printed.

Q: How do you connect to communities to get these signs to more people?

A: We don’t sell on Etsy, we don’t sell on Amazon — this is a really community-driven project. This thing has to have a feel in University Heights. We work with online social partners, one or two retailers, and that’s it. I’ve got two, three retailers in Solana Beach, one online partner. I go out and sell it. I walk in the store. I talk to people.

There’s three words I really like: Win, win, win. And it’s not just win for me or win for you, because that’s lopsided, right? So win, win, win has a good balance. It’s about everybody. And what we’ve done to create that win, win, win is almost every sign we sell has a kickback. We’ve given 15% of our sales to the San Dieguito High School surf team, to the Carlsbad Boys + Girls Club, to the mural project in Normal Heights.

My head is all about the product, the people, the community. It’s patient, it’s community-driven.

Q: What local neighborhoods are next on your sign design list?

A: We’ve had requests for La Mesa and Barrio Logan. We just got our samples for Kensington and for Oceanside. Oceanside we created on our own, based on some things, and it looks fabulous.

💡 Fun, Fast Facts:

• Vince has lived in Solana Beach for 27 years.
• He started working on the research + conceptualizing his signs in June 2020 + launched his business in December 2021.
• To date, he’s made 11 San Diego-area community signs: Solana Beach; Carlsbad; Encinitas; Del Mar; Cardiff-by-the-Sea; Hillcrest; Little Italy; North Park; University Heights; Normal Heights; Little Italy. He’s also created versions of SoCal communities like Huntington Beach + Dana Point, and Haleiwa, Hawaii.
• Vince started his brand-building + career as an entrepreneur as an independent road rep in the surf industry for small, upstart surf companies — “driving door to door, from surf shop to surf shop, skate shop to skate shop.”
• He’s a one-man show: He does the designs, sales, social media, communicates with the factory, packs and ships orders, etc.
• Vince is very much into giving community kickbacks from proceeds, working with local community groups, and some business associations.