About Jeff

I grew up in a small town in California. From a young age I felt that art was what my profession would be. Somehow while still in grade school, people started asking me to paint signs for them. First it was the local 4H clubs, then businesses around town would call me to do the exterior of their buildings. This felt right to me because I had a fascination with typography (not knowing what that word was) after finding my father’s high school lettering text book (dated from the 1930s!) on the bookshelf. The book was informative about the structure of each letter of the alphabet, plus some other samples of typefaces that I would copy — or see if I could match by drawing them freehand.

Typography was only a starter drug for me because due to my love for drawing, I really wanted to be an illustrator. Firstly, album cover art was my initial attraction. This was a way to combine my love for music with a way towards visual expression of what I heard. Secondly, I wanted to do magazine editorial illustration. This led me to Art Center College of Design in Pasadena for my illustration training. My new goal was either to work for Hipgnosis in London, or to be a movie poster artist in Australia — don’t ask me why, since I was already living in L.A., and there was plenty of movie work already happening. I suppose I wanted to try some exotic destination.

At the time, all of the illustration was done with traditional media. Drawing and painting from thematically costumed models in acrylic and oil. This was all pre-computer in the early 1980s. We were taught traditional hand paste-up production-design techniques for print as well. I was on my way to make a living with these skills, and they served their purpose for about five years or so. Then the Macintosh arrived and everything changed. Digital work was the way to go, and I fully embraced it! Digital gave me a space for expression with type, while merging my traditional painting knowledge combined with illustration.