Zachary Mogavero, a student in the SUNY Geneseo LIVES Program, works on creating a hand-drawn sign at the Gallery in the Valley on Main Street in Geneseo. / Photo by Matt Burkhartt
You won’t find the Mogavero Sans font in Microsoft Word.
Ryan Gosling won’t be screaming about it on Saturday Night Live.
The hand-drawn typeface is unique to Zachary Mogavero because he made it himself.
A third-year student in SUNY Geneseo’s LIVES Program, Mogavero has refined his hand-lettering skills since grade school, when classmates noticed his ability to freehand crisp, clean lettering in different styles.
“People would ask, ‘How do you do that?’” he says. “They couldn’t believe it wasn’t traced.”
Now a fixture both on the campus and in the local community, Mogavero has created signs and chalk art for SUNY Geneseo events like GREAT Day, offices such as the Department of Biology and the Interfaith Center, and local businesses in the Village of Geneseo.
Art has always been central to Mogavero’s world. For as long as he can remember, he filled sketchbooks with colorful scenes and practiced drawing letters in different fonts for fun.
Mogavero discovered a talent for sign-making in the seventh grade when a family member asked him to create a sign for their upcoming wedding. Soon after, he landed his first paid job designing a storefront sign for a local cookie shop. Seeing his work on display and hearing positive feedback from the community confirmed that this was what he wanted to do.
In high school, Mogavero had a makerspace and produced dozens of signs for school events. He also dove into graphic design tools like Adobe Illustrator and began mastering equipment such as Cricut machines and CNC routers, often teaching himself through YouTube or trial and error.
“I’m a multimedia sign maker,” he says. “I don’t want to limit myself.”
His process is part intuition, part design precision. Mogavero starts with a vision, builds it in Illustrator, and produces it using vinyl, chalk, wood, or whatever medium best fits the message.
The work helps him feel more connected to campus and the community, Mogavero says. This summer, he will intern at Hilltop Industries’ print shop in Mount Morris, eager to expand his skill set. His long-term goal is to own and operate his own sign-making business.
“I just want to make this town a better place,” he says. “Good signs can do that.”