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Chuck Davis of USA

Born: 1971

Founder of Letterhead Fonts, Chuck’s background in graphics began in 1989 as a cartoonist and then graphic artist for his high school newspaper. "It was a good opportunity to learn some of the basics of layout design, typesetting and pre-press. I remember shooting negatives through a camera that must have been about 20ft long."

After High School, he served as a printer’s apprentice. "I grew pretty bored with all that, I knew I needed to be doing something more creative. I used to draw kids names at school in graffiti style lettering and sell them, so I thought maybe I'd be suited for something using that that skill", Chuck recalls. "So one day I decided to stop by this sign shop that I had passed
by a few times before. I had never painted a sign and hadn't the foggiest idea of what was involved. I nervously approached through the open shop door and saw a man sitting on a small box painting an A-frame sign. He had his back to me and the conversation went like this:

Me: “Uh, hi. I was wondering if maybe you needed any help around here?”

Sign Painter: “Well, what can you do?”

Me: "Well, right I'm working at a print shop."

Sign Painter: "Well, that really doesn't qualify you as a sign painter does it?"

Me: “No, I guess not.”

"And that was the end of that. I walked away slowly, dejected but also a bit peeved at the way this guy talked to me. I realize now that he must have seen several guys like me in a single week with the same idea that they could be sign painters too. But what this old sign painter said ate away at me for the following three years. I knew I had the talent, I just needed a chance to prove it and his words sparked a burning desire to do just that. About a month later I landed a job painting signs for a grocery store. I didn't have a clue what I was doing really until I started reading SignCraft magazine. That old sign painter’s words just kept ringing in my head with each sign I made. I took pictures of all the signs and finally 3 years later I went back and showed them to him. This time his reception was considerably warmer and he invited me to help out around the shop. I received a valuable training in the fundamentals of sign painting from him."

Later Chuck started his own shop, hand-lettering most everything. "One of the shops I used to buy vinyl from invited me to work with him. I found the computer really opened up new avenues of creativity. However, I also discovered that many of the fonts I wanted weren't available or didn't have the same style that I painted by hand. So I resorted to creating and digitizing my own letters and when I had enough I started assembling them into font form,“ Chuck recalls. ” Eventually, I learned some techniques for carving and gilding and discovered a fondness for the old typestyles from the early 1900’s. I later switched gears again and went into web design and print media. Letterhead Fonts is really a culmination of all my interests."

“I really feel that at the heart of all visual advertising is the design. The typeface and the way the designer chooses to present it sets the mood. The power and potential impact a designer has over his viewer should be considered carefully and responsibly. When good design meets good and appropriate lettering, it is design bliss and most likely the formula for a successful advertisment. I am proud of the service Letterhead Fonts provides and enjoy the idea that together we can create something pleasing to the eye.”

Fonts by Chuck Davis

LHF Becker Monogram English, LHF Conclave, LHF Cool Blue, LHF Denise, LHF Equinox, LHF Cafe Corina BETA, LHF Scriptana, LHF Splash, LHF Stanford Script, LHF Sugargirl, LHF Timberlodge

Browse all fonts by Chuck Davis

Activities

  Type Design
  Web Design
  Sign Writing

Chuck Davis of USA

Fonts by Chuck Davis

Activities

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