By 3 years of age I was already fascinated by letterforms. My earliest lettering instructions were Speedball signwriters' guides from the 1940's and Dover reissues of advertising lettering manuals. The books still show evidence of my favorites and my age. I experimented in youth with predictable science-fiction and fantasy lettering styles, influenced by comics, record covers, and the art-nouveau resurgence in the 1970's. Letterforms resembling broken glass, wood, and all manner of objects were outlets for "typographic expression." As I discovered more classical type and lettering my skills at calligraphy grew. I investigated the process of submitting typeface designs to several type companies in the early 1980's, but became discouraged by the effort involved. As much as during hot-metal days, a new typeface was a large, slow, technical undertaking. Only a few years later after some experience with Macintosh Computers my interest in type design was renewed. I put together a set of samples and visited several type houses in Boston, and discovered that the tools I would need to design type were available on the Mac. During my years at Rochester Institute of Technology (1990-1994), I was able to experiment with different type design software as well as gain exposure to fine typography and other aspects of lettering and type design. During those years I also completed internships at Adobe Systems, as a production assistant in the type department. A trip to Europe to various printing museums led me to original lettering and type drawings by Koch, Trump, Menhart, Zapf, and Schneider. Since graduation I have pursued type design commissions as well as developing my own original designs for retail sale. I live in San Francisco, a fast-changing place, and dream of someday telecommuting from a quiet mountain top, delivering exceptional lettering, digitally, to clients worldwide.
Practicing
Early evidence of typographic proclivities
Fantasy shapes
Photocopied tests