Man of letters

Whether you know it or not, you encounter hundreds of different fonts on a daily basis. But where do they come from? What prompts people to create the same letter a thousand different ways?

For ARC adjunct instructor and graphic artist Steve Mehallo, creating a font isn't as much a business as a journey of personal exploration, a portal into the past.

All of Mehallo's fonts are miniature "research projects" because each represents something meaningful. If he doesn't know a lot about the subject, he'll spend hours researching it.  

"Typefaces are usually names on a menu, but each has a rich history that we take for granted," he said.

For instance, his Chandler42 font, based on text from an early 1940s typewriter, was named after pulp fiction author Raymond Chandler. The "42" was added because it was the year the typewriter was built.
 
"The ‘4' in the font looks cool," Mehallo said.

Jeanne Moderno is named after his wife, and Martini at Joe's is based on signage from an old bowling ally.

The font he's currently developing, which he's calling "Mall Echo," is based on the modular architecture of shopping malls in the 1970s. His inspiration stems from a childhood experience.

"I used to hang out at shopping malls when they used to be the cool place in town," he said.

A Bay Area native, born and raised in San Bruno, Mehallo fell in love with design at a young age. He indulged himself in the concept of creating comic books. But in junior high and high school, he designed school newspapers, even serving as editor of The Stampede at Capuchino High School.

 It was the production artist at the newspaper's printer who recommended he pursue design.

"What's that?" Mehallo asked the print shop artist.

"It's what you're doing now," she said.

He's still doing it–as a freelance graphic artist who specialized in creating fonts. He also teaches five typography classes at California Art Institute and two classes at ARC (typography and history of graphic design).

Although his job title might commonly be referred to as a graphic designer, he claims he's a "problems solver," and has dubbed himself a "design strategist."

Mehallo uses online sources to sell his fonts, since it's easier for him in that he doesn't have to create his own font store. He has a contract with Monotype, which owns fonts.com.

Fonts are just the building block for this admitted caffeine-addict. He's designed clip art illustrations and video graphics. His clients have included the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, Microsoft, Nike, Netscape, and TiVo.

Where's he get the names for his fonts? ? "Naming fonts is really tricky," he said. "In my case, the name either comes to me immediately or during the work process."

While he admits you can't get rich as a part-time professor, Mehallo enjoys teaching, and tries to make learning fun by making his lectures "more like stand-up comedy acts."

This is apparent by the constant giggles and chuckles heard throughout his classroom. But he is serious about seeing his students succeed. Usually with some form of caffeine in hand, Mehallo challenges their creativity.

 Aaron Villarreal, a student in Mehallo's history of graphic design class, describes his professor as "entertaining, and makes the class entertaining with his off-the-wall comments."

Off the wall or not, Mehallo believes in self-expression. When he enrolled at College of San Mateo, he became editor and designer of "Monday Morning Blues," a free-speech magazine that "came out every week on schedule."

And the best part about the magazine was that it was printed on blue paper–unless Mehallo forgot to order it.

 He went on to San Jose State University, getting a bachelor's degree in graphic design in 1994. He's currently working on a master's degree in education.

Putting his fonts on the market in 1994 was his launching pad to other design projects. He's currently working on a video game, which will be "abstract" and based on one aspect of design history. He is also one of many typographers creating a font for a project known as Font Aid IV, a charity set up to Mehallo raise funds for Haitian earthquake victims.

He's also recently broken into the fashion industry, partnering with a local designer to come up with a collection based on futuristic art elements.

You can check out all of Mehallo's fonts, along with his portfolio, at mehallo.com/blog.