Category Archives: Typography

Movies, Type, Typography

Helvetica Movie – Watch for Free

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Until Tuesday, March 24th, 2020, you can watch Gary Hustwit’s documentary Helvetica for free. Helvetica is a feature-length (about 1 hour and 20 minutes) documentary about typography, graphic design and global visual culture. It features the world’s most prolific typeface and explains why that is and how it got to be that way.

The director posted this on Twitter last week:

In light of the COVID-19 crisis, I’m streaming my films for free to viewers stuck indoors anywhere in the world. I’ll be streaming a new movie every week, launching each Tuesday. Stay strong, we’ll get through this.

via @gary_hustwit

I haven’t seen it since 2008, but parts of it stick in your mine. I have to admit that some of my favorite parts of the film are with the folks that are simply OVER Helvetica and complain about how simple and boring it is. I am not saying I agree, but it’s always fun to listen to intelligent folks who are passionate about something. That seems even more so when that thing they are passionate about is typography.

helvetica movie

It looks like Hustwit will be sharing more of his films as well. He has another one that was enjoyable called Objectified. It’s worth checking out if you enjoy listening to folks talk about high-design, products and ideas.

Here’s the trailer for Objectified:

helvetica and objectified

Enjoy the films!

Book Column, Gifts for Book Lovers, Typography

Typography Scarf

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Baby, it’s cold outside! While this typography scarf isn’t the most insulating, it’s certainly a gift a book lover would appreciate. The entire scarf is made up of uppercase letters and assembled in a jumble.

Typography Scarf

It looks pretty nifty. It looks to be only available overseas (but they do ship to the U.S.). And it also goes out of stock very very fast. So if this typographic scarf is something you want, check back often and be ready to pounce. They also have a place to enter your email to be notified when it’s back in stock.

The Uppercase Scarf retails for  £48.00 which is around $80. Not bad for a truly unique gift for the book lover in your life.

fonts, Gifts for Book Lovers, Type, Typography

Two 2014 Typography Calendars

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The new year is upon us! Which means it is time to pick out another calendar to help guide me through another year. For 2014, I’m thinking about getting one of these typography calendars. I haven’t decided if I want to go with a tear-off day-to-day type deal or if I want the wall mounted inspirational calendar. Either way, I’ve found these two options.

typographiccalendarMOMA

This typography calendar is being sold at MOMA and sports a different font every day of the year. They are calling it the Typodarium calendar and it looks like it may get a tad cutesy, but it’s certainly unique. Plus, it’s on sale for only $12.50 (see waiting until the last minute pays off sometimes)!

typograhicalendar365

Of course, then there is the annual awesomeness that is Hinrichs 2014 Typography 365 Calendar. This favorite sports a new font every month and really concentrates on the design and typesetting of each month. It’s something that any typophile would truly appreciate. But the full-size wall calendar is going for $47, so it’s a bit more expensive. I’ve seen this one before and it was wonderful. Totally worth getting the bigger one (the smaller typographiy calendar is $29).

So what have I missed? I’ve seen a bunch on Etsy, but nothing really jumped out. Let me know if you know of a cool typography calendar that I need to consider before I pull the trigger on one of these.

Happy New Year to each of you! I hope that your 2014 is full of books and great reads.