Carl Crossgrove has been obsessed with letters since he learned to read at the age of two. Born in Mexico, Crossgrove grew up in central Connecticut. He experimented with letters throughout his childhood, drawing chalk alphabets on the driveway and cutting giant letters out of paper.

Pictured above, left to right: Goudy Ornate; on-the-fly calligraphy at a San Francisco restaurant in early 2006; and Crossgrove.