A look back at Glen Guyett’s most iconic Phoenix signs

Glen Guyett’s signs were works of art planted in plain sight along the streets of Phoenix.

The prolific artist and designer, who died on Jan. 5, created signs not only functional but fun to look at. They shimmered, curved and flashed their way into the everyday lives of Valley residents for decades.

Guyett didn’t dream up signs that blended in. His signs for businesses like Mr. Lucky’s nightclub, folksy restaurant Bill Johnson’s Big Apple and dozens of local motels were neon-equpped, playful and unapologetically bold.

Long before his signs became nostalgia touchstones, they were expressions of an artist having fun with scale, form and light. Guyette’s designs leaned into midcentury modern flair, mixing clean geometry with a sense of whimsy and scale. The result felt both futuristic and deeply rooted in place. Over time, it coalesced into what many now call the “Phoenix style.”

Arizona historian Marshall Shore says Guyett’s signs revealed an artist working in steel, glass and electricity.

“Those signs really brought out his artistic side,” Shore says. “The My Florist sign is especially great and has this beautiful purple middle within this leafing around it.”

That attention to color and detail showed up across his work. Flowers bloomed in neon. Arrows sliced the sky. Characters and symbols gave buildings personality. Guyett treated commercial spaces as canvases.

His artistic instincts also shaped his approach to branding. In the 1970s, Guyett designed the logo, signage and visual identity for the now-defunct Arizona Bank, leaning into Southwestern imagery and symbolism.

“He was always fascinated with kachinas and loved to include them in his work,” his daughter Joyce Guyette says.

Many of his most famous works are gone. Signs for Bill Johnson’s Big Apple once towered along Van Buren Street. The Kon Tiki Hotel glowed near Sky Harbor. JD’s nightclub in Tempe lit up Scottsdale Road. All fell victim to redevelopment and changing tastes.

But several Guyett creations remain standing, each capturing a particular moment in time.

The My Florist sign on McDowell Road continues to grab attention. Kachina Dry Cleaners still glows along Indian School Road near 40th Street. The Shamrock Farms stands rises along Interstate 17 south of Thomas Road. Mesa’s Buckhorn Baths Motel still serves as a time capsule to a bygone era. And Mr. Lucky’s still looms along Grand Avenue, battered but beautiful.

Together, they form a scattered museum of roadside art.

Here’s a look at Guyett’s many signs, past and present.