Pat Denner (1924 – September 25, 2011) was the designer of
Vegas Vic
Vegas Vic is a neon sign portraying a cowboy which was erected on the exterior of Pioneer Club Las Vegas, The Pioneer Club in Las Vegas, Nevada, United States of America, USA in 1951. The sign was a departure in graphic design from typeface based ...
.
Denner was raised in Salt Lake City, and studied commercial drawing and design at the
Pratt Institute
Pratt Institute is a private university with its main campus in Brooklyn, New York. It has an additional campus in Manhattan and an extension campus in Utica, New York at the Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute. The institute was founded in 18 ...
in New York City.
In 1951, the
Young Electric Sign Company
YESCO is a manufacturer of electric signs based in Salt Lake City, founded by Thomas Young in 1920. The company provides design, fabrication, installation and maintenance of signs.
Many notable sign projects have been produced by YESCO, inc ...
in
Salt Lake City
Salt Lake City, often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC, is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. It is the county seat of Salt Lake County, the most populous county in the state. The city is the core of the Salt Lake Ci ...
commissioned Denner to design an illustration for the manufacturing of the neon sign. He also was commissioned to design
Wendover Will
Wendover Will is a sign created for the Stateline Casino in West Wendover, Nevada in 1952. It is now a landmark for the town of West Wendover.Richard Menzies"When There's a Will, There's a Wendover: Nevada's Neon Colossus Winks Once Again. ''Am ...
for The
Stateline Casino
Stateline Hotel and Casino was located in West Wendover straddling the Nevada/Utah border.
History
The owner of Stateline Casino was William "Bill" Smith, who started his business in 1926 as a service station. In 1931 when gambling was legali ...
in
West Wendover,
Nevada
Nevada ( ; ) is a landlocked state in the Western United States. It borders Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the seventh-most extensive, th ...
in 1952.
Denner also designed in 1952 the first seat-down menus for
Harman Restaurants
Harman may refer to:
People
* Harman (surname)
* Harman Baweja (born 1980), Indian actor and producer
* Harman Bhangu, Canadian politician
* Harman Blennerhassett (1764–1831), Anglo-Irish lawyer and plantation owner
* Harman Grisewood ( ...
, home of the
KFC
KFC Corporation, doing business as KFC (an abbreviation of Kentucky Fried Chicken), is an American fast food restaurant chain specializing in fried chicken and chicken sandwiches. Headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky, it is the world's se ...
in Salt Lake City and then created the likeness of
Col. Harland Sanders for the menus and posterity. Back then the franchise was not established and Harman Restaurants had only two locations in Salt Lake City.
The 1950s were productive and creative for Denner as an art director and graphic designer. From his studio at Denner & Associates located at the corner of Main and Broadway in Salt Lake City, he handled many of the prestigious accounts of those days, such as Walker Bank,
Equitable Oil Company, Auerbachs Stores, Harman Restaurants, Dee Restaurants and others. Mr. Denner created oils, watercolors and portraiture for many selected clients like the
U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association in Park City and others from his storefront studio in Salt Lake City, Utah. Pat Denner died September 25, 2011 in Salt Lake City, Utah at the age of 87.
Mr. Denner was the subject of a documentary, ''Howdy Pardner!'' (directed by George Leon - 2007), which is described as being "about Americana, iconography, outdoor advertising, graphic design and its influence in the popular culture".
References
External links
* Blog devoted to the film, ''Howdy Pardner!''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Denner, Pat
2011 deaths
Neon artists
1924 births
People from Salt Lake City
Pratt Institute alumni