Little wonder then, that state transportation and tourism officials have turned to Clarkson repeatedly over the past two decades to help design travel guides and Utah highway maps, the newest version of which is expected to be out by early March.

"I can't say enough good things about Larry," said Janice Carpenter, Utah Travel Council publication and printing coordinator. "He is such a good resource for us, very in tune with places and things, a great writer, an artist. We've always looked to Larry when we need help."

Like when some quick fixes were needed to avoid the embarrassment of having errors in the state highway map published just before the world arrived for the 2002 Winter Olympics. Or by providing his own oil paintings of Utah's scenic wonders for the Games-period Utah Travel Guide, saving the state the expense of paying several artists for their images.

No big deal, Clarkson said. He appreciated the chance to help his home state shine during its fortnight of Olympic glory and savored the exposure his artwork received.

"I'm in a unique situation where I'm doing designs for groups I like to work with," the 54-year-old Holladay resident said. "I think they like me because I know the state forward and backward."

That knowledge base dates to childhood, when he and his parents, Ted and Virginia Clarkson, traveled to all corners of Utah, being rock hounds, checking out ghost towns, hunting rabbits. "We went on almost every road in the state," he said.

Clarkson later took up flying, which gave him access to even more remote areas. Often, he and his son Tallis would fly over the Colorado Plateau, find some old remote air strip once used by uranium miners, land and take off on foot on a backpacking expedition.

"I just love to explore," he said. "I know the state really well, and that's one of the reasons why they like to me to do the maps. A lot of cartographers are just academics. But I can design the maps, and I also know the state."

After graduating from Skyline High School in 1968, Clarkson received a bachelor's degree in graphic design from the University of Utah and a master's from the University of Illinois. He worked in Chicago before being lured back to Salt Lake City, where he and Randall Smith formed the graphic design firm, Smith and Clarkson.

While there, Clarkson acquired his first contracts to help the Utah Travel Council put out its annual travel and accommodation guides, glossy publications that show off the state's most picturesque places and provide information about things to do, places to stay.

The Travel Council renewed the contract several times as he moved on to Clarkson Twede and, later, struck out on his own. "I work out of my home and my overhead is low, so I can charge lower prices," he explained. "And I just love doing it, so it's not a profit thing."

That approach certainly appeals to the Travel Council, Carpenter noted.

"Larry has always been conscientious of our budget. He always does extra," she said. "We need good people who are willing to put forth more effort than we're able to pay them for."

Clarkson is especially proud of the special Olympic edition of the Travel Guide, titled The Fine Art of Travel.

Throughout his career, Clarkson had enjoyed doing sketches while backcountry skiing in the Wasatch Mountains or hiking in the red-rock country outside of his second home in Grover, just outside of Capitol Reef National Park. Along the way, he had gotten to know artist Gary Ernest Smith, who encouraged him to take up oil painting and provided some instruction on the nuances that separate good work from mediocre.

So when Travel Council officials informed Clarkson of their desire to enhance the Olympic edition with artwork of Utah's different regions, he showed them his portfolio. "They said, 'Let's have you do these,' " and, sure enough, the 2002 Travel Guide features 12 Clarkson paintings. The cover painting is of a skier descending through deep Wasatch powder, partial views of the Olympic rings visible in the snow.

Clarkson also has worked on state road maps since pre-digital days, back when images and blocks of written copy were pasted onto pages by hand. The process is far more computerized these days, and Clarkson is excited about the improved look that will result from Utah Department of Transportation cartographer Kelli Bacon's acquisition of new software and typographical fonts.

"The text is crisper and easier to read," she said. "We were able to make some text smaller so we could add more information, but still [the text] is much more legible."

Hitting that fine line is important, Clarkson said, because state maps are packed with details, depicting intricate road systems and filling the fringes with everything from telephone numbers for weather conditions to admonitions to "tread lightly" when camping in Utah's backcountry.

"This new map is heads and tails above the old one . . . much more professional," he said.

The 2005 road map will incorporate changes to the milepost-marker system and, consequently, to exit numbers along the state's highways. The 500,000 copies also will include information about carpool-lane usage, commuter lanes, national and state parks and weather.

While state law mandates that road maps highlight Utah highways with special distinctions, such as the old Lincoln Highway, the focal point of this year's rendition is on the state's 28 Scenic Byways, particularly State Road 12, Utah's only designated "All-American Road" for the spectacular scenery it traverses in winding from Bryce Canyon to Escalante and Boulder Mountain and on to Capitol Reef.

With that emphasis, Clarkson came up with the theme "On the Road Again," and worked closely with Travel Council and UDOT staff to use the map "to position the state to potential visitors . . . The Scenic Byways lead us into highlighting the national parks. We even talk about the history of indigenous people, [Utah's] settlement by pioneers and contemporary populations."

Compared with the 2002 map, he added, "this year we've downsized the governor's message and the existing UDOT director's. In this one, their letters have more content, specific information about road safety from UDOT, and information about visiting Utah from the new governor" Huntsman.

mikeg@sltrib.com