Design

Outside of my career in technology, I’ve always been fascinated by the visual appearance of letters, numbers, and symbols. I’ve practiced calligraphy since I was nine years old, and I have a strong interest in fonts and typography.

Here are a few samples of my recent lettering-related projects!

Christmas cards (2023)

For the third year in a row, I’ve used Photoshop to create a custom design for our Christmas cards to share with family and friends. This year’s installment includes a family photo from the 102nd floor of the Empire State Building and a festive greeting using hand lettering in a simple serif style.

Thanks to the Main Line Print Shop in Wayne, Pa., for another great job with the printing!

Antique yearbook images (2023)

The earliest issues of La Vie, Penn State’s annual yearbook, featured a custom (and often inscrutable) illustration for each graduating class from 1889 through 1910.

I was intrigued by the images, so I gathered them from a digital collection in Penn State’s online archives and presented them in a daily series on my Instagram account.

Christmas cards (2022)

Having created a custom family card with my own lettering last year (see details below), I was inspired to create a follow-up design for 2022. It’s another Photoshop-based layout that includes Art Deco–style hand lettering with some candy cane and evergreen flourishes.

Thanks to the Main Line Print Shop in Wayne, Pa., for their custom print job, and to our friend Greg Adams for his professional photo of our family at Valley Forge National Historic Park.

Christmas cards (2021)

I had wanted to use my lettering in our family’s Christmas card for a long time, so I was excited to finally make it happen.

I created both sides of the card layout using Photoshop. The heading above our family photo is a scanned image of my writing, including block printing in green and Old English calligraphy in red.

Thanks to the Main Line Print Shop in Wayne, Pa., for their terrific work with the custom printing.

Place cards (2021)

My parents celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary at a small dinner party with about 25 guests at the Desmond Hotel in Malvern, Pa.

I created the place cards for the occasion, and opted for metallic gold ink to reflect their golden anniversary.