Spotlight on: Lari Thaw

Fountain Hills volunteer Lari Thaw uses his flair for graphic design to create event posters for the town.

Thaw, 59, is the Fountain Hills Volunteer of the Month. His work advertises events from the Fall Festival to Snowflake Fantasy.

"I really didn't like the posters the town had out," said Thaw, who also designed teen magazines in New York. "I told the town I could redo the posters. They said, 'great.' "

On graphic design:

"They have schools that pop out designers every two weeks . . . (but) you have to understand design. I think it is just experience. You have to make a lot of mistakes to see what works and doesn't work."

On finding inspiration:

"You have to look at what you're designing. If you're designing magazines, look at other magazines . . . if you're designing Web sites, look at other Web sites."

On his job before Fountain Hills:

"I worked for a company called Sterling, and we did Tiger Beat, Super Teen, Teen Beat, and also Metal Maniacs and Metal Edge. It was crazy. There was lots of activity."

On his most recent poster:

"I just finished up one called Green Friday. Town Hall will be closed down Friday and all the other services. They're putting out a poster to explain that."