But the renowned graphic designer who worked in Los Gatos for about 30 years is officially missing as of the evening of June 4. There are reports that he may have ended his life by jumping off the Golden Gate Bridge.

According to Wayne Ziese, with the Golden Gate public affairs division of the California Highway Patrol, a credible witness saw someone matching Tharp's description make the jump, and a backpack containing his personal belongings was left behind. The missing persons case is being investigated by the Marin/Corte Madera CHP office. But until a body is discovered, the CHP cannot confirm Tharp's death.

Some of Tharp's family and close friends aren't ready to accept his death, while others are already planning his memorial service and starting a scholarship that would be awarded to a graphic design student in his name. Tharp's many connections have caused his disappearance to come as quite a shock to local residents and the graphic design community.

"He's a missing person at this point. We have no confirmation of his death," said J.C. Olson, who has known Tharp for 35 years and went to college with him. "We're all thinking the same thing, but we're not moving forward with a memorial yet."

Friends and community members are being asked by Tharp's family to hold their ideas, energy and phone calls until the investigation is complete. A spokesperson from the Marin Coroner's Office confirmed that as of press time Tharp's body hadn't been recovered. The spokesperson said it's possible, although unlikely, that Tharp might have survived the jump.

"I will miss Rick," said close acquaintance Jade Bradbury. "He was a gentle and motivating friend to me. We will all miss his little black and white vehicle with the hand painted on the door—so graphic, so Rick."

Tharp had a boutique design firm called Tharp Did It in Old Town. He utilized smart design skills, his sense of humor and creative genius in everything from the bid to make San Francisco a candidate to host the 2012 Olympic Games to the Cinequest Film Festival of San Jose. His quirky, designer personality was evident in his artistic black and white attire and his famous bowling shoes. He was also known for giving back to the community and nonprofit groups without compensation.

"He had a huge clothesline on one side of the wall in his studio where he clipped up his design awards like laundry," said close friend and colleague Helen Mendel. "It was so telling because he had so many awards. It was the most clever idea."

Tharp is the recipient of hundreds of national and international awards for his design work, including a Clio, the Oscar of the advertising and design industry. A series of posters his studio created for Brio Toys of Sweden is in the permanent collection of the Smithsonian Institution's National Design Museum. A book for the same company was selected for inclusion in the U.S. Library of Congress collection.

After graduating with a degree in fine arts from Miami University of Ohio in 1975, Tharp took a cross-country road trip and stopped in Los Gatos on his way to San Francisco, but never left.

The internationally-acclaimed designer was attracted to "the quaint charm and artistic character of the town," according to a profile he wrote about himself for the recent "Grist, Gumption and Genius in Los Gatos" exhibition at the History Museum of Los Gatos.

He moved into his Old Town studio, at the site of the former University Avenue Grammar School, and was given a "good deal" on the rent by Mendel, the former general manager. Mendel said her only stipulation was that Tharp make his graphic design services available to any tenant in Old Town who needed them. This gave Tharp an immediate client base.

Two stone felines, Leo and Leona—the unofficial mascots of Los Gatos—are the subject of townwide banners that continue to welcome visitors to Los Gatos long after Tharp created them.

"He carried through the colors and the themes to reflect the character of Los Gatos," said Assistant Town Manager Pamela Jacobs. "We've always appreciated his creative approach to materials that represent the town so well."

His work over the years can be seen in logos, signage, menus, labels, advertising and promotional materials for places such as Steamer's The Grillhouse, Los Gatos Coffee Roasting Company, Borders, Le Boulanger, Domus, The Mountain Winery, Clos LaChance Winery, Carry Nations, Los Gatos Union School District, Music in the Park, Bare Essentials, Blackhawk Grille, the San Francisco 49ers cookbook Cookin' with Champions and Hewlett-Packard, to name a few. Tharp was also a past president, member and advisory board member of the Western Art Directors Club, according to Tharp's close friend Stephanie Paulson.

"If he didn't really like the project or the person, he wouldn't do it," said Steamer's co-owner Paul Matulich. "It wasn't about the money."

David Cohen, publisher and CEO of Silicon Valley Community Newspapers, which includes the Los Gatos Weekly-Times and Saratoga News, said he met Tharp when he was involved in the first design aspects of Metro, which Cohen co-founded.

"Rick was always the curmudgeon, but a wonderful one and an extremely talented one," Cohen said.

Tharp helped create the newsboy logo for the Los Gatos Weekly-Times, which continues to appear at the end of every Community Newspapers logo. Cohen said Tharp also helped the company become known as Community Newspapers, rather than SVCN. Cohen said it was the fastest re-branding he'd ever encountered.

"Rick had such a great style for turning simple, mundane things like greeting cards into something great and mailing them back to you a year later," Cohen said. "He literally redesigned all eight of our logos in the past year and the Image magazine logo. I don't know what I'm going to do without him. He's irreplaceable."

Los Gatos-Monte Sereno Police Chief Scott Seaman said the department was contacted to conduct a security check at Tharp's business, which was found to be closed. Seaman could not confirm details surrounding Tharp's case since it's not being handled by local authorities. Tharp has a sister, Kelly Sutter, who lives in Ohio, but he was never married and had no children.

"He really was a prominent member of the community in terms of trying to capture the image of Los Gatos," Seaman said.

Laura Bajuk, director of the Los Gatos Museum Association, said Tharp made Los Gatos look better because he wanted it to look better. She said he had a "reverent-irreverent attitude," and could focus like no one she knew.

"He was just a really helpful friend of the museum," said Doug Dodd, a member of the museum's board of directors. "Anytime we asked him for help, he was right there ready."

Tharp didn't just redesign the logo for the museums, Bajuk said. It was a $10,000 job that came with a 75 percent discount. He polled all 35 docents about how they answered the phones for the museums. Tharp learned that all the employees within the organization referred to the museums' titles differently, so it needed a uniform name and logo that represented art and history, which it now has.

"He took something so complex and distilled it into one statement," Bajuk said. "He thought of things no one else would."