Helvetica: the Movie

One has to wonder how a typeface could be worthy of a feature documentary. A 50th anniversary surely isn’t sufficient reason. But as has oft been quipped by typographers, Helvetica isn’t just a typeface, it's a way of life!

The film is really quite entertaining, though I’m not sure its appeal could carry over to the non-designer demographic. These debates about typefaces and ideology (modernism, post-modernism, etc.) are great fodder for graphic designers — I've engaged in them for as long as I’ve been in the business — but for some it may seems like a lot of blather about nothing.

Still, given the incredible ubiquity of Helvetica, it's worth learning why it’s as popular as it is. And, conversely, why some high profile designers hate it so. Me, I’ve always preferred Helvetica's near twin, but (to my eyes) eminently more beautifully drawn family of fonts, Univers.

You can pre-order the DVD here (I already did!). And my good friend, Eman, has done up some very cool anniversary t-shirts that you can see here.

Joseph’s favourite book covers 2006

Joseph over at The Book Design Review lists his favourite book covers for 2006. They are something to behold.

Double word space between sentences a quaint Victorian habit?

So says Robert Bringhurst, in The Elements of Typographic Style:

In the nineteenth century, which was a dark and inflationary age in typography and type design, many compositors were encouraged to stuff extra space between sentences. Generations of twentieth-century typists were then taught to do the same, by hitting the spacebar twice after every period. Your typing as well as your typesetting will benefit from unlearning this quaint Victoria habit. As a general rule, no more than a single space is required after a period, a colon or any other mark of punctuation. Large spaces (e.g., en spaces) are themselves punctuation.

typo_dylan

This has been around for a while but it's still a lot of fun to watch, esp. if you're a Dylan and/or typography fan.