While the interior of an arcade might be bright and enticing to attract players, the marquee artwork often proves to be just as eye-catching as the games themselves. It’s part of what first draws people into the arcade, after all! The artwork on arcade marquees comes in a wide variety of styles, as well as serves different purposes – some announce the names of games that are coming soon, others give tips on how to play their respective games, and some are just stylistic art pieces that don’t serve any function at all!
About Art of the Arcade Machine Marquee
Art of the Arcade Machine Marquee specializes in designing custom marquees for arcades. Their designs can feature anything from a retro Arcade Marquee style to a customized color scheme that ties into your business.
Welcome to my world
What is it about the video game and arcade world that allows for so much expression in marquees? Custom marquees, custom arcade marquee custom. It’s as if a video game character can’t help but jump out of the screen. Especially with games like Duck Hunt or Defender. You can see the joy on their faces like they’ve been waiting to burst free from that old CRT all these years. And maybe they have!
How it all started
In 1996, artist and designer Tobias Crawley was working as a projectionist at Seattle’s now-defunct Liberty Theater. On one of his shifts, he found a set of old arcade marquee art panels for sale outside the theater for only $5. He quickly bought them up and brought them back inside to see if any other co-workers wanted them.
The first marquees
Marquees, the neon sign for many games in an arcade or game room, has a history that may be unfamiliar to those of us who did not grow up going to arcades. You see, marquees were a big innovation at the time and were meant to entice people who walked by as they entered.
My collection from start to present
My arcade machine marquee art collection has been building up over the last few years, and now I can finally show you some of my favorites. Here are a few of my recent purchases, and I plan to show off more with each passing month. This is by no means an exhaustive list-I am constantly on the lookout for new vintage machines, so if you ever see one that strikes your fancy and has a cool marquee (or would be good fodder for custom marquis), please let me know!
The newest addition to my collection
I recently stumbled across a guy who does custom marquees for old-school arcade machines. His stuff is amazing and I had to have one done for my machine. He was happy to do it and it only took a few days to get the new one here, but when I saw the photos he sent me I knew that this was going to be something great.
Other collections and their gems
Hi, I’m Awais and I love arcade machines. They’re usually a bit of a money pit when you consider all the issues that can crop up from neglect but in my experience so far it’s worth the investment to buy a quality machine with decent upkeep. I also like to decorate my game room around my games and have incorporated some custom arcade marquee art into my design. To give you an idea of what you can do, check out some cool art and helpful tutorials below!
# Arcade Marquee Custom
Pricing, shipping, and vendors
Popular pricing options for this type of marquee start at $699 and can reach over $10,000 depending on the quality. Some marquee designers offer made-to-order marquees while others are only available in stock designs. Shipping varies by distance. If you’re purchasing a marquee that was designed with custom artwork, delivery time is typically 6-8 weeks after order placement. This way, the artist has time to hand paint your design with custom colors and perfect every detail just as you imagined it!
Everything You Need to Know About Multicade Graphics
