Dave Parr, the creator of LHF Squeezebox, talks about his thoughts on the sign industry and font creation.

Chuck Davis: So, you're working at a sign shop right now?

Dave Parr: Yes, Hardin Signs in Peoria, Illinois. I'm classified as a sign painter so I end up doing a mix of vinyl and hand painting commercial work, manufacturing and installing custom work. Paint and vinyl mostly. Hand lettering has become pretty rare.

Chuck: What do you mean by "classified"?

Dave: It's one of the last Union shops, at least in this area. The owners have kept it Union for the benefit of the people that work for them.

Chuck: What do you think is going to become of the sign business in 5 or 10 years?

Dave: I think that individual smaller shops will continue to offer unique work and involve themselves in good design to promote their work. And of course things will continue to go digital. This area is 5 or 10 years behind what is happening on each coast and they're just catching on to digital here.

Chuck: As the price comes down for digital signs, do you think it invites people who don't necessarily have talent or skill to enter into the sign business?

Dave: There's always been someone that would put a spray-canned image out there on a piece of a cardboard in order to get his message across. And that was fine with them. And there are people who are satisfied with a simple line of Helvetica that the computer would plot. Then there are customers who search for creative custom work. I don't really see all that changing. I do see allot of this digital vehicle wrap stuff as being overpowering though and the message is lost, practically.

Chuck: What artists have influenced you the most?

Dave: My Mother. Jack Wills and Paul Berkshire influenced my hand-lettering skills. I was involved in graphics arts very young. My parents had a screen-printing business-- still have it. And my mother was the designer. So that strongly influenced my interest in letter construction. As a child I watched her stand at the board and put together thumbnails then develop pencil layouts on butcher paper for screen stencils. It amazed me how she could create the letterforms, develop the layout with exact spacing every time. Looking back, now understanding more about layout, I’m even more amazed. They all flowed so well and only took her a few minutes to sketch out. As I grew older I became more interested in other artists.

Chuck: How old were you when you started hand-lettering?

Dave: I started hand-lettering show card or shelf-talker type signs when I was 14 or 15 for my parents who had a client that required weekly price changes on all the window banners, plus the shelf-talkers that would go with them. That was really good practice. I loved it.

Chuck: How old are you now?

Dave: 53.

Chuck: Have you always worked professionally in some commercial art field?

Dave: No. I've worked in 3 different factories, very short stints, Then right back to graphics. Over the years I've often worked two full time jobs at once.

Chuck: You mentioned that you learned programming, how did that happen?

Dave: I took a semester of basic programming. No, I guess it was two semesters, MBasic, then GWBasic. I thought it would give me more options. I enjoyed the challenge. It’s another form of problem solving. I felt it would help me learn more about the computer.

Chuck: If you enjoy programming and letters, making fonts is right up your alley.

Dave: I enjoy it, I really do. I loved putting that first font together and I'm enjoying the one I'm working on now even more.

Chuck: Why did you create LHF Squeezebox?

Dave: Well, the time we are living in is unique. The people that learned hand lettering, learned more than just how to use a quill. It’s the natural next step, to transfer our knowledge of letter construction and layout from the easel to the screen. I've seen others of similar backgrounds making fonts, and making fonts was something I wanted to be a part of. I enjoy using roman styles and the brush. I've used that style several times-- or something very similar to it. Most recently I think I used that style on a few of the panels I made.

Chuck: Is LHF Squeezebox a style you developed yourself or was it influenced by some other artists like Jack Wills?

Dave: I kind of worked it out myself. All the artists I learned from did allot of beautiful, very clean roman lettering. I learned as much as I could from Jack... standing right behind him when he would put that stuff together. It was mind-blowing. How he could make such a letter-perfect character with such ease. Then after working with Jack, Paul Berkshire’s skill finished me off. They both truly inspired me. Paul could put Spenserian Script down that would make a grown man cry, and his Standard Roman was flawless. So I practiced and practiced until I could produce that, well, I was getting close. And then I kind of got loose with it when I had the chance.

Chuck: That brings me to my next question. The sides on LHF Squeezebox bow in. Why and how did they become like that?

Dave: The bowing in on the serifs... that kind of evolved from loosening up and doing casual romans on stock cars and so forth. Going away from using tape for the baselines. And I liked the result.

Chuck: I guess that makes it faster to letter also.

Dave: Yes, with some practice of course.

Chuck: What fonts do you use in your own design work?

Dave: Well, I've purchased several of Arthur Vanson's fonts... I use those. I like to use a lot of bold styles in my work.

Chuck: Your next font is going to be a art nouveau style. Does that whole period appeal to you?

Dave: Well it does definitely. There was such a concentration of prolific artists that were publishing amazing work, such as much. I enjoy leafing through the Strong's Book of Designs or Atkinson's books. That just appeals to me. That was an era when craftsmanship really meant something. No matter how hard I try, I can't just throw a job together. I have a problem with that.

Chuck: Well, that makes your style pretty conducive to what we are trying to do around here. Your upcoming font is really unique in that you are not just copying an existing art nouveau letter style, but creating your own from scratch. That takes real talent.

Dave: I'm having allot of fun with it. But at the same time I find it frustrating though because there are so many different ways you can handle one character. So what I'm doing is creating several versions of each letter. Maybe we'll have 2 or 3 different versions when I'm done.

Chuck: Do you have any other ideas for fonts you'd like to do after the art nouveau style?

Dave: Oh yes. I would love to do a casual gothic. And I've got some other more ornamental art nouveau styles I'd like to do, but they are very intricate.

Chuck: How do you come up with your ideas?

Dave: I've always sketched letters, especially on the phone... allot of ideas come out that way. I guess because you're relaxed. I'll put alphabets together or examples of letters while I'm talking on the phone.

Chuck: Did you draw LHF Squeezebox by pencil first and then scan it in to digitize?

Dave: I primarily use CorelDesigner 12, which is basically the same thing as CorelDraw... it has some extra features. Ordinarily I sketch the letters on paper and then put it on my Wacom tablet and place points around the letter where they should go. But I did create several of the letters for LHF Squeezebox right on the screen in CorelDesigner. I've been using the Wacom tablet now for 4 years.

Chuck: Well, you got anything else that you wanted to talk about that maybe should be put down in print? Any thoughts on the World? Hillary? McCain? Obama?

Dave: No... I don't have. How 'bout you?

Chuck: Oh, I have my opinions... but they're not worth much. Thanks for your time.

Dave: You're welcome. Thanks for the opportunity.