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Capone Is Enlightened By HELVETICA!!

Published at:  Jun 13, 2007 4:10:35 PM CDT



Hey, all. Capone in Chicago here. I've been excited to see this film since I read about its world premiere this year at SXSW. Since word of this doc reached the rest of this world, I've had Chicago-area designers and others in publishing and graphic design write and call, asking if I knew when it was opening in the area. Well, Chicagoans, the wait is over thanks to the eager-to-please Gene Siskel Film Center (http://www.siskelfilmceneter.com), which begins a weeklong engagement of the film on Friday. This thing is going to sell out fast people. I literally know dozens of people organizing groups of friends to go see this, so buy your tickets early and don't be late.


More than simply a documentary about the history of the world's most popular font and its many uses over the course of its 50-year history, HELVETICA is a fascinating exploration of design trends that the font inspired with both its success as an all-purpose font and its eventual overuse. And trust me when I say, the only thing funnier than listening to graphic designers gush lovingly about fonts is hearing the bitch about them as if the fonts are to blame for being popular. And the only thing I enjoy more than a doc about a subject I'm somewhat familiar with, is watching one on a topic I know next to nothing about.


Created in a simple design studio in Switzerland, the Helvetica font quickly becomes the go-to typeface for corporations looking to move into the more modern world of streamlined advertising and logo design. It was the font of professionals, but it quickly became the people's font when desktop publishing became the way of design (and Apple computers included it as part of its standard font package with all home computers. Many more modern-thinking design firms adopted an anything-but-Helvetica policy as way of getting away from corporate identities and looks for their work.


The film goes into a great deal of detail examining Helvetica's many nuances and its appeal as possibly the world's most perfect font. But it's equally intriguing to watch today's young designers incorporate it into designs that are clearly meant to be edgy and rebellious. Graphic artists from around the world (whose names mean nothing to me, but whose font creations and work I'm very familiar with) speak at length about how the font changed the face of advertising and logo design forever.


HELVETICA is an informative, humorous, and entertaining work that opened my eyes to pieces of the world I never really noticed before. Suddenly every e-mail, movie poster, book cover, and sign looks a little different to me. Who knew that the Crate & Barrel/American Airlines/New York City Subway font was so important? Now, I do.

Oh, one final programming note: Director Gary Hustwit will be on hand for both Friday performances to answer all your questions. Now go!


Capone












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    Readers Talkback

  • Jun 13, 2007 4:13:31 PM CDT

    Great now I can't use the font anymore

    by modlight

    apparently its passe. Maybe I'll bring it back in style.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jun 13, 2007 4:13:46 PM CDT

    Snore!!!

    by aloy

    But I have friends who would wet themselves about this.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jun 13, 2007 4:15:17 PM CDT

    It's all about Verdana, bitches

    by heckles

    12 point, bold.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jun 13, 2007 4:22:54 PM CDT

    Look at the subtle off white coloring...

    by christopher3

    The tasteful thickness of it. My god, it even has a watermark.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jun 13, 2007 4:26:29 PM CDT

    pale nimbus

    by lane

    cillian braille

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jun 13, 2007 4:30:38 PM CDT

    I use Impact, personally

    by skeletonparty

    or, if I'm feeling daring, Myriad.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jun 13, 2007 4:34:47 PM CDT

    Graphic designers are the worst

    by jimmy_009

    So often they act like their fonts or designs are saving the world or something. Seriously, if you want to see the very definition of smug blowhard, find a graphic designer, or go to the bookstore and find a book on a graphic designer. It's not moving shapes around or coloring things, no no no. Graphic Designers are the glue that holds society together. At least to hear one tell it.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jun 13, 2007 4:39:53 PM CDT

    Oh, lest I forget to mention

    by jimmy_009

    The other things that I hate about graphic designers: Trendy, black graphic designers glasses (you can't design without them appearently), a love for everything Apple, driving around in Volkswagon Jettas, and only liking bands if no one has heard of them. Graphic designers suck.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jun 13, 2007 4:47:01 PM CDT

    MOMA Exhibit

    by petergriffin1fan

    Just got back from NYC a few weeks ago and they had an exhibit simply on Helvetica at the Museum of Modern Art. Pretty interesting stuff about the transition from Helvetica to Ariel over the past 10-20 years as the standard font in wordbased programs.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jun 13, 2007 4:54:27 PM CDT

    Times New Roman: A Sword & Sandal Epic

    by polyh3dron

    A Michael Bay film tarring Shia LaBeouf. Coming soon to HD DVD.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jun 13, 2007 4:59:38 PM CDT

    Helvetica is the vanilla of fonts:

    by newc0253

    if it ain't Bookman Antiqua, it ain't right.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jun 13, 2007 5:02:03 PM CDT

    Just got back from MOMA

    by jimmy_009

    Hey, why not tell us about your trip to Prague next?

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jun 13, 2007 5:07:48 PM CDT

    I would have preferred

    by smackfu

    A documentary on the Win98 Wingdings font before they changed it, where when you would type out NYC it would show an airplane, a skull and a star of David.

    Wingdings tried to warn us about the Jewish 911 conspiracy but we were too wrapped up in our Franklin Gothics and our Marletts to listen...

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jun 13, 2007 5:08:36 PM CDT

    Experimental Jetset on using Helvetica

    by ludmir88

    their works using this font are very simple but totaly functional. It seems Helvetica has the right touch and dinamyc. Even Alice Rawsthorn tell us that the font was used by Massimo Vignelli and Bob Norda in the New York Subway. 50 years mmmm. Very interesting to people involved in the graphic design world. I wish to be at the MoMA right now. The documentary was screened last march so i have to see it.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jun 13, 2007 5:09:57 PM CDT

    jeezus, jimmy_009

    by legokenobi

    sounds like someone wanted to be a designer but couldn't hack it.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jun 13, 2007 5:12:48 PM CDT

    Actually I got into 3D animation

    by jimmy_009

    and can hack that just fine. Doing brochures for investment firms and advertisements for yogurt doesn't appeal to me for some odd reason.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jun 13, 2007 5:13:55 PM CDT

    kimmy_009 i'm with you man...

    by ludmir88

    graphic designers sucks. Trendy people.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jun 13, 2007 5:14:37 PM CDT

    I wish to be at the MoMA right now

    by jimmy_009

    I see you your douche bag license is up to date.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jun 13, 2007 5:14:51 PM CDT

    sorry jimmy hehehe sorry

    by ludmir88

    my bad mehhh.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jun 13, 2007 5:17:47 PM CDT

    Kimmy, Jimmy, its all good.

    by jimmy_009

    Glad someone else sees what a shallow field graphic design is.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jun 13, 2007 5:19:34 PM CDT

    Christopher3 -

    by fluffybunnywhiskers

    American Psycho reference for the win, bud. For the win.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jun 13, 2007 5:38:38 PM CDT

    jimmy.. graphic design can be shallow but...

    by ludmir88

    it helps in almost everything today. It helps to sell every product out there, a message, an idea, a movie (good or terrible depends on us) etc. i.e: i can't imagine another design for the harry potter title than the actual one. Of course GD it's part of a whole machinery the media it's armed to make us think that we need something. So if we have to sell something or ourselves(in the good sense)the image we project have to be interesting or at least atractive. That's the world of today. The media has you ...

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jun 13, 2007 5:46:53 PM CDT

    jimmy_009

    by bswise

    OK, as a (former) graphic designer, I'll bite. Sounds like some pastey 3D designer geek with no hope for a social life was recently dumped by a trendy but shallow graphic designer hottie who wore thick black art school glasses. Hey, it can happen to the best of us, dude. Of course, you do have a point, most good design (as opposed to the other 90%) is wasted as pearls unto swine.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jun 13, 2007 5:53:32 PM CDT

    mmmmm ..but i love hotties trendy girls...!

    by ludmir88

    i don't care if they want to still wear their black glasses while i'm on top, i don't care really.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jun 13, 2007 6:20:15 PM CDT

    "...Wasted as pearls unto swine."

    by jimmy_009

    Wow is that a quote you stole from Donald Norman or something. Between you and the guy that wishes to be at MOMA right now I don't know who's worse. Stand back and realize that selling products isn't some higher calling, it's being a corporate tool.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jun 13, 2007 6:41:02 PM CDT

    I can't think of a more boring subject for a doc...

    by batutta

    What's next, a 2 hour examination of the casio synthesizer?

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jun 13, 2007 7:01:22 PM CDT

    See you in HELVETICA!

    by bswise

    "Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you." Matthew 7:6 Well, I'm off to Prague, where I'll be designing the welcome brochures for the new gulags.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jun 13, 2007 7:09:09 PM CDT

    Jimmy_009

    by happyfat73

    If it wasn't for graphic designers... those spank mags you cough your filthy yoghurt all over would be nothing but word docs with clip art in them. Be thankful for graphic designers.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jun 13, 2007 7:13:04 PM CDT

    Batutta...

    by tell-a-thon

    Please don't mistake designers with wankers who take up design as a fucking lifestyle accessory. Real designers hate those knobs as well. How could you not? I've heard only good things about this flick (and not just from designers/typographers)

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jun 13, 2007 8:10:32 PM CDT

    Omg! They made a movie about a font!

    by proman1984

    I wonder how any people had the same reaction I did.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jun 13, 2007 8:29:02 PM CDT

    Happyfat73

    by jimmy_009

    Again, the self-congratulatory graphic designer. What would we do without you? Don't let me interrupt you from saving the world through the power of graphic design.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jun 13, 2007 9:12:29 PM CDT

    jimmy_009

    by milkmaidhj

    I was never compelled to talk back until I read your retarded rants over and over and over. The first thing that was flagged in my head was how uneducated you were on the topic of graphic design. You have the preconceived notion that all a graphic designer is, is a person who typesets brochures and helps spell out McDonalds, when you haven't even scratched the surface of design. If you see an orange swoosh...or the term just do it, if you see the oh so popular golden arches, etc. THAT is graphic design, sure it's used in advertising, but it's more so an icon. Graphic Design is bringing order to information; to take complex ideas and companies and convey that company in a symbol or a phrase. Design is all about what's around you, whether it's a stop sign, flight information, books or any other form of communication. Before graphic design, there was no widespread knowledge unless it was word of mouth or the written book, which was hand scribed and only reserved for the richest of people. Graphic design brought us the printing press, which lead to mass communication, which changed and defined society. So before you rant about how us designers wearing thick rimmed black glasses while listening to our indie rock, talking about how we're God's gift to the modern world, read a fucking book. Take some time to educate yourself instead of sounding like a stark-raving asshole who has no idea what he's talking about. Helvetica was made for people who have a passion for design and its history, just like the site is for people with a passion for film and the such, not a place for ignorant pricks to bash a profession they know nothing about.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jun 13, 2007 9:18:11 PM CDT

    Actually, Jimmy...

    by happyfat73

    I'm an editor, mate, not a designer, but I work closely with designers. I guess I'm just lucky that my colleagues aren't the same brand of self-righteous hipsters that ran over your bike and turned you into a miserable twat.
    You DO realise that broad generalisations are stupid, right? Good.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jun 13, 2007 9:26:09 PM CDT

    vivid subtlety is the hallmark of good design

    by ashhole

    hey jimmy, i couldn't afford art school either, but i'm not mad at the designers of the world. they may be many things, even douchey things, but corporate tools they are not. anyone who bills freelance hours which are virtually unprovable is a tool of no one. i wish i could pull it off. and for the record, myriad pro rocks all your cheesy arial asses.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jun 13, 2007 9:28:05 PM CDT

    poor jimmy

    by badmrwonka

    self-aggrandizing over-generalizations always seem to get you into trouble. ;o)such a sweet irony that you deride Sorkin for just that. and personally I like Tempus Sans ITC, although I don't use it a lot...just looks nice

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jun 13, 2007 9:41:43 PM CDT

    Actually I have my Grad degree in animation

    by jimmy_009

    And MrWonka, I've never derided Sorkin for self-aggrandizing generalizations, and I'd hardly call your sad attempts at ruining my fun as 'trouble'. Besides, graphic designers earn every bit of it, the jackasses.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jun 13, 2007 10:07:17 PM CDT

    I didn't say I was causing you trouble

    by badmrwonka

    you just always seem to run into some in every talkback.and you always get on Sorkin for being self-important...perhaps in a more specific way I guess...

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jun 13, 2007 10:09:33 PM CDT

    Don't pick on Jimmy for being an idiot...

    by tile_mcgillus

    3D Animators are the heart of the anti-corporate world. All sarcasm aside thanks again for basically destroying the art of 2D animation.

    See how broad generalizations are stupid. I think you better stop man. Seriously, you just sound kind of silly. As an artist you should especially respect other people's art you do not understand. You are making your professional look bad.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jun 13, 2007 10:12:20 PM CDT

    Times New Roman is old school, bitches.

    by pennsy

  • Jun 13, 2007 11:58:57 PM CDT

    I guess jimmy or kimmy got the message. eh?

    by ludmir88

    and i didn't want to do any generalisations either. I'm a graphic designer too, in my first year doing some freelance work with no trendy behaviour by the way but i have friends designers that fall, inevitably, in the hole labeled as TPO (trendy people only) but man thats the game of life and i like it. oh yes i want to buy a wacom tablet, second hand i don't care. From my temporary wheelchair, i'm out!!!!!!

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jun 14, 2007 12:56:46 AM CDT

    That little Jimmy. He's so hilarious!

    by half vader

    Lucky he's not self-aware or he'd be mortified at what a fucking hypocrite he's been, talking about OTHER people looking down their noses. Glass houses, you whiney little bitch (you named yourself after that whiney shit in Jackson's Kong, didn't you?)!

    "Actually, I have my grad degree in Animation". Well la-di-fuckin'-dah, who's the snob NOW? You're probably one of those kingsized twats who likes 3d because it's all cool and technical but couldn't draw a fucking hand or hand-sculpt a face to save themselves. The 3d industry is made up of MANY tools like that. Yeah I work with 'em and have been in both camps and my jaw still drops at how ignorant so many 3D guys are of the basics. Worse still when it comes to the new novelty, Pre-vis artists. Just like back in the 60s and 70s when so called 'artists' got all excited about airbrushes then wondered why their super chrome robots looked so shit, not realising they shoulda learned something about anatomy and drawing skills first. Notice I'm not deriding the airbrush or 3d or graphic design at all, just the wankers.

    As for graphic design, there's nothing inherently wrong with wanting to bring art or aesthetics to everyday, post-industrial revolution life. That's completely different to the issue of whoring for the ad industry. Graphic design's wanker quotient is certainly no higher than the 3d animation camp.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jun 14, 2007 1:48:37 AM CDT

    New Transformers Clip from Jay Leno!!

    by wadi77

    Download and save:

    http://tinyurl.com/2tzylb

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jun 14, 2007 6:51:03 AM CDT

    Unleash HELVETICA!!!

    by col. tigh-fighter

    Are you not amused?

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jun 14, 2007 7:37:23 AM CDT

    New Courier is This Year's Little Miss Sunshine!

    by darfurontherocks

    I used to remember in high school picking New Courier because it was nice and wide. If I was missing half a page on a paper using Times New Roman, I would use New Courier and bingo! Paper completed.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jun 14, 2007 8:10:48 AM CDT

    Brush Script is the devil's work

    by half vader

    And about the only thing uglier than Bottleneck and Arnold Bocklin/Boecklin, if we're talking fonts.

    Photoshop filters like lens flares, bubbles and aged film are also the scourge of the industry. Nice that Copperplate came back after a few decades out of the limelight though.

    As we're talking both fonts/typography and film, Kyle Cooper is the best designer since Saul Bass, I reckon. Any takers?

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jun 14, 2007 8:29:13 AM CDT

    Maybe next a doc on linoleum! Or oatmeal!

    by borgnine jr

    This is exactly the kind of documentary Burt from Sesame Street would totally dig. Meanwhile, that bitch Ernie is gorging on hentai.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jun 14, 2007 9:39:54 AM CDT

    Great review of this movie: http://tinyurl.com/2dhasc

    by alexandra.dupont

    ... by an acquaintance of mine with, shall we say, *fully-formed* opinions on typography:

    http://tinyurl.com/2dhasc

    He wore a "Hel-FUCKING-vetica" t-shirt and gave fellow moviegoers "Down with Arial!" leaflets. I am not making any of this up.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jun 14, 2007 10:08:43 AM CDT

    Funny Stuff, Alexandra

    by half vader

    Although Poynor's not all bad. He did write that book about the fantastic Vaughan Oliver. Well, your friend can always just look at the pictures if he doesn't like the text I guess!

    I guess little Jimmy isn't a Pixies fan.

    Borgnine, Bert is evil - remember that net craze?!

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jun 14, 2007 10:18:19 AM CDT

    They thought he was old fashioned...

    by agentarchangel

    ...they thought he was too artsy. Well he's gonna show them a thing or two about typesetting and proper column settings! Chuck Norris is Courier - He's the Font that'll lay out your layout.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jun 14, 2007 11:06:57 AM CDT

    Oh Photoshop filters

    by purplepurple

    havent we all used them? I remember back in the day when I'd bevel and embossed everything heh

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jun 14, 2007 11:11:18 AM CDT

    Disillusioned by COMIC SANS

    by bentmywookie

    It's a direct to Betamax film!

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jun 14, 2007 11:35:21 AM CDT

    So Jimmy, Have you ever . . .

    by thugsnarf3000

    Did you ever buy a shirt because it had a cool design? Did you ever see a movie poster, logo, CD cover, website, etc. that you thought was cool? Who do you think came up with that? Yup, that's right, a DESINGER. I am a graphic designer. I don't think my designs save or change the world. It's all about relating to the viewer and manipulating their emotions. I can make you look where i want you to look. I can make you think what i want you to think, and i can have a heavy influence on weather or not you buy something. I'm not a self-important prick or anything like that. I don't wear glasses (and neither do the other 4 designers that i work with). I'm a t-shirt & jeans, meat & potatoes guy, not an artsy-fartsy guy. And i'm not trying to be arrogant, but manipulation is what design is about. It's about relating to the person looking at the design any trying to evoke an emotion from them. But the designer gets to pick what that emotion is. I think you are just mad that design can have that kind of effect on people, because it's something that you cant do.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jun 14, 2007 11:38:00 AM CDT

    "I can make you look where i want you to look."

    by jimmy_009

    "I can make you think what I want you to think"

    You then go on to say you are not a self-important prick.

    Thanks, keep proving my point.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jun 14, 2007 11:41:34 AM CDT

    Also . . .

    by thugsnarf3000

    Jimmy, you say "selling products isn't some higher calling, it's being a corporate tool". That doesn't even make any sense. Selling products is what EVERY business does. That's the whole pont of having a business. What do you think your 3D animation is trying to do? It's trying to relate to someone so it will SELL. So, if trying to get someone to buy a product means that you are a corporate tool, that means that basically EVERYONE that has a job is a corporate tool.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jun 14, 2007 11:44:47 AM CDT

    It's not self-importance

    by thugsnarf3000

    It's fact. It's what design does. That's like telling a doctor that he is self important because he figured out what was wrong with a patient. I'm not saying i am as important as a doctor, i'm just saying that design is about emotional manipulation. And a necessary part of design is composition. Composition is creating a balance and a flow, which leads your eye around the artwork. Who decides where to lead the viewers eye? The DESIGNER.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jun 14, 2007 11:49:29 AM CDT

    Animation is storytelling

    by jimmy_009

    Which has some value to the world. Keep trying to convince yourself that selling products for corporations isn't a souless, whoreish pursuit and that the graphic design world isn't ripe with trendy A-holes. And to the guy (or lady) that suggested that I'm just jealous of these people because I can't draw, I get paid to do character concepts and model them. I don't like these people because I had to go to school with them and help them at my job in college. Yeah, they were mostly self absorbed flakes that thought they were doing God's bidding by designing product campaigns. Is it generalizing to say they are all like this? Of course. But I'm not going to preface every statement I make with "well, I know not ALL graphic designers are like this but..." just to make you happy. And if I defend myself by addressing a specific charge (i.e. 'You couldn't hack it, you couldn't get into school, blah blah blah.') that doesn't mean I'm the pot calling the kettle black. Now then, go pretend to fawn over font talk like you actually care about it.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jun 14, 2007 11:57:31 AM CDT

    Thugsnarf3000

    by jimmy_009

    Yeah it's a job. Great. But it's a shallow job. Trying to get people to buy stuff. Hey, if that's what you're into. I'm not trying to do away with the idea of graphic design. My point is that many of the people involved with it think they're the end all, be all of what's important in the world. Even the people arguing with me have agreed with that. Just listening to some of the people talk in here, it's like they think selling products is ranked right up there with curing cancer and 'where would the world be without us?' Guess what, you're not that important. Products would still sell if all the ads looked like crap.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jun 14, 2007 11:59:39 AM CDT

    But storytelling has to relate to people

    by thugsnarf3000

    But be honest, you aren't creating animation and characters just to entertain yourself. When you create a character, that character has to be relatable to the average person. When you come up with a story, that story has to be able to connect with people. Why? Because it won't SELL if it doesn't. EVERY job, even character design is about what will sell. That's what jobs are. You don't work for a place that doesn't care if it's product doesn't sell, because there aren't any company like that that make a profit. I don't care what job you have, it's about SELLING A PRODUCT. You're just as much of a corporate tool as i am. And i can say i honestly don't work with any "trendy A-holes", we are all "normal" people trying to make a living. If you can honestly say that the place you work isn't out to make a profit from the product they sell, the kudos to you. But if they do, then your corporation is just as souless as mine.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jun 14, 2007 12:11:19 PM CDT

    Thugsnarf3000

    by jimmy_009

    Yeah I work for a company that makes money (as it happens we make educational games for kids). But what I produce actually is a 'thing'. I create something. Graphic designers don't create anything, much as they would like to believe otherwise. So even though I make something for a company, at least I make something useful. Graphic designer just try to convince, persuade, or trick a person into buying something. Very meaningful indeed. Yeah the world needs those people, but forgive me if I don't think it's such a rewarding field of work, and if I can't understand why the people involved with it are so often so snobby about it. And you probably don't think that you or the people you work with are trendy a-holes because you are all trendy a-holes. No one ever thinks it them. But it's you.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jun 14, 2007 12:20:09 PM CDT

    jimmy

    by thugsnarf3000

    Yeah, ok, just go ahead and keep blindly assuming and generalizing a group of people that you've never met. That's always a good way to look at the world. Nothing naive about that at all. Well guess what, you probably also think you aren't a trandy a-hole, so by your thinking, you probaly are, right?

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jun 14, 2007 12:21:55 PM CDT

    Jimmy_0009 just doesn't get it

    by milkmaidhj

    Dude, you're talking about ADVERISING and this movie isn't about selling products or making people buy what you want, it’s about a fucking typeface. You keep going on about how so self centered designers are, like we think we can control the world yet your thinking of an entirely different profession. Graphic design is about the art of typography. TYPOGRAPHY, not controlling the mass public to do our bidding, that’s A-D-V-E-R-T-I-S-I-N-G. Do designers work in advertising? Yes, but that’s because most designers work paycheck to pay check, job to job to survive. If you want big money you have to work in advertising or have a very successful design studio. Its obvious you know NOTHING about design and are just generalizing design and advertising together when they are two separate professions.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jun 14, 2007 12:25:17 PM CDT

    So let me get this straight

    by jimmy_009

    When someone defends their graphic design work by saying they help sell products and make people look where they want to look and think what they want them to think, then it's OK to lump graphic designers as advertisers. But when I then say advertising is a shallow pursuit, it's 'Hey, graphic design isn't about advertising! They're two different things!'

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jun 14, 2007 12:31:15 PM CDT

    My closing arguement

    by jimmy_009

    I started out by saying that graphic designers are self-absorbed people that think they're doing God's work or something. If you think I'm wrong, then just go through some of the comments made by graphic designers. They make my case for me.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jun 14, 2007 12:32:55 PM CDT

    I don't think you got it straight

    by milkmaidhj

    Or...one person could be a designer who works in advertising and the other a designer who doesn't work in advertising, sounds hard to believe doesn't it?

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jun 14, 2007 12:34:45 PM CDT

    Jesus Jimmy, give up while you're behind.

    by half vader

    (everyone else forgive my rant and any repeated points)
    If you do get paid for character concepts (I notice you didn't use the words character DESIGN), do you draw/hand render them first, or just go straight to the app.? And if you do go through the initial stages, are you so in denial/self deluded that you don't realise you're using the exact same methods of composition, proportion, weight, leading the eye, negative space and on and on that every decent GRAPHIC DESIGNER uses? Oh the irony! Like I said before, glass houses you holier-than-graphic-designers tool! You ARE a fucking black pot. You even admit your hatred of graphic designers is based on your own tiny subjective interaction with, um, HOW many? You admit to generalising but won't qualify your comments? Don't make the unsupportable sweeping statement in the FIRST place then, doofus! I'm sure your corporate bosses think it's hilarious that you have your unsullied and oh-so-green storytelling mantra in place. It's not necessarily why THEY own the BUSINESS. Adorable kids' products notwithstanding.

    I must admit that this is all pretty funny to me as yes even though I was a graphic designer for many years I left it to become a fulltime character designer and concept & storyboard artist. Done children's educational stuff too! At least I'm not making kneejerk statements here and have respect for both fields and have both 'analogue' and digital points of view. I know that makes me sound pretty old, but you mate sound awfully green. Besides which, if you hate this stuff so much do yourself a favour and get out of the TB, ya little troll. At least people won't make fun of you.

    Animation is storytelling? What the fuck do you think a typeface does? It's an integral part of printed STORYTELLING (and go look at case studies of how different fonts influenced different groups' interpretations of mood in the same Shakespeare play). People wrote things down and printed them long before animation my friend and if serifs, ascenders and descenders help in that communication and education, then you can't exactly fault them or their designers out of hand. Right?

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jun 14, 2007 12:37:59 PM CDT

    I work for a design company

    by thugsnarf3000

    I work for a design company that works with commercial retail companies and hotel chains. We do designs to help sell community devolopments, trade show booths, resturant and commerical interior spaces, company identities and many other things. Is it making the world better? No. Is it helping to sell a product? Yes. How is that any different than 90% of the jobs out there? Designers create the packaging and identity, the overall feel for the products that people like you create. We have to grab the consumers attention while they walk by, so that they will notice the product that you created and not the competitors.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jun 14, 2007 12:38:16 PM CDT

    At the end of the day this

    by milkmaidhj

    At the end of the day this is a talkback for a movie that tells the story of a typeface, made for the public to see a bit of the world designers live in. As a designer its to show the art of typography, and the letter form. To show people there was a time where type was carved out of metal, that the thousands upon thousands of fonts out there created on the computer are pure shit. That fonts created hundreds of years ago are timeless, and as much a part of our history as anything else because in the end, its all about communication.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jun 14, 2007 12:40:09 PM CDT

    Behind? I'm ahead.

    by jimmy_009

    I've got you guys in a tizzy trying to defend your souless jobs and I'm laughing when you just keep making my points for me.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jun 14, 2007 12:42:20 PM CDT

    half vader

    by jimmy_009

    My point, as it was in the beginning, is that so many graphic designers think they and their work is more important than it really is. If you or any of the graphic designers on this site have actually worked in the field, then you know it's true. End of story. If you don't think so, then you're one of those a-holes, or you're completely delusional.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jun 14, 2007 12:42:44 PM CDT

    All i'm trying to say

    by thugsnarf3000

    Is that your job is just as souless as mine. You are a corporate tool just like me and everyone else. And if you don't think so, then you are just as self-important and smug as you say that i am.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jun 14, 2007 12:44:44 PM CDT

    My job isn't nearly as souless as yours

    by jimmy_009

    You design signs for trade shows. I create artwork for educational software. C'mon.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jun 14, 2007 12:49:17 PM CDT

    This is a Joke, Right?

    by uss cygnus

    IT'S A FUCKING FONT.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jun 14, 2007 12:49:23 PM CDT

    Let's recap

    by jimmy_009

    I said that a lot of graphic designers were stuck up blow hards that too often think they're God's gift to the world. You guys responded by pointing out how great you were because you make people see how you want us to see and think how you want us to think. You also said something along the lines of where would we be without graphic designers to help sell things. I went on a rant about trying to sell things others make is a souless pursuit. Then it was, Hey! "Graphic design and advertising is two different things! You're an idiot!" Then it was basically a 'We're winning the arguement and you're losing' response. I'm sorry if I riled you all up. I'm sure your work is rewarding to you. Good for you I say.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jun 14, 2007 12:50:16 PM CDT

    It's a joke to me :)

    by jimmy_009

    But I don't think it is for anyone else.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jun 14, 2007 1:00:30 PM CDT

    "My job isn't nearly as souless as yours. . . ."

    by thugsnarf3000

    "My job isn't nearly as souless as yours. You design signs for trade shows. I create artwork for educational software. C'mon" Nope, you aren't self-important at all. Because the ARTWORK for the educational software is the all important part of the software. It's not the actual learning experience that is important, but the rat that is holding the letter "A". My art goes on a wall, your artwork moves. Both pieces evoke emotion from the viewer and tries to connect with them so that they will buy more of the product. Yes, your job is just as souless as mine.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jun 14, 2007 1:41:59 PM CDT

    Nice try but completely obvious sidestep Jimmy

    by half vader

    I thought you were gone, whaddya know. Feel like answering some of those points we made head-on? Obviously not. Even though you know 'so many" designers. Man that was some big class you 'helped'. Beautiful "if you don't think so, you're an a-hole" argument too. Wow.

    It's too bad you won't actually educate any kids though, as you won't support the company's corporate schilling by letting them include any imagery to help SELL the product and get it to them in the first place, because then you'd be implicit in ADVERTISING, and there won't actually be any text or numbers on the blocks or tiles in the characters hands anyway because those guys and their fonts suck so the kids won't learn to read and write. They'll be entertained by the animation though if it does magically fall into their hands.

    Oh actually no they won't because your characters don't make them see or think what you as an animator/designer want them to. See how this works? No of course you don't. God almighty - and you're still saying OTHER people are arrogant! You're right though that I'm riled. Self-important holier-than-thou types do get to me. I'm silly like that. Out.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jun 14, 2007 1:58:45 PM CDT

    So I'm a cannibal AND a blowhard jackass?

    by skeletonparty

    Yipes, I had me all wrong.

    As a graphic designer and the inventor of cannibalism, I must say that I'm hurt by the blowhard jackass comment posited by Jimmy_009.

    Fortunately I have self-confidence and I know for a fact that some of my business card designs have prevented wars.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jun 14, 2007 2:03:03 PM CDT

    Jimmy_009 made be throw up my latte

    by skeletonparty

    all over my black mock-turtleneck.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jun 14, 2007 2:42:21 PM CDT

    now I definetly think jummy got dumped by a designer

    by purplepurple

    I didnt think it before. So much hate...and for a freeking career! jeez. Next thing you know some guy is gonna come in and go "I hate business administration, they're fucking assholes"

    And you're wrong Jimmy, like other said you're thinking of advertising. Advertising is the profesion of selling products or services to people, Graphic Design is the comunication of concepts and ideas through visual means. Design can be used for the better of society or against it, just like any other profession.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jun 14, 2007 2:46:13 PM CDT

    and I spelled jummy instead of jimmy

    by purplepurple

    gotta go put on my designer glasses.

    We do have to thank Jimmy though, there's no way the talkback for something so thrilling as a font documentary would've run this long without his silly remarks :)

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jun 14, 2007 3:45:11 PM CDT

    Jimmy,Jimmy you wide-eyed simpleton.

    by borgnine jr

    Commerce makes the world go 'round. It isn't evil. Commerce at the expense of all else is harmful, and that makes it evil, but there's nothing wrong with trying to make a buck. Are you some kind of commie shill? You obviously have deep negative feelings here and you should address them before they skew your reason further. Was your ex-fiance a designer? Did you lose your fiance because she caught you in a torrid one night stand with a designer? A male designer? Drop the baggage and move on Jimmy. We're all replaceable.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jun 14, 2007 5:38:45 PM CDT

    I just got off the phone with yo MoMA

    by bannedontherun

    She did her entire MySpace site in Comic Sans and now has 7,000 friends.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jun 14, 2007 5:44:45 PM CDT

    Arial or Helvetica?

    by bannedontherun

    Do you dare take the test and post your score? http://tinyurl.com/2m95hy

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jun 15, 2007 12:36:17 AM CDT

    Hey everybody let's play shit typographical puns!

    by mr clarke

    If you loved Helvetica then why not check out:

    Children of the Kern
    The Bold and the Beautiful
    I Shot the Seriff
    The Life and Death of Kernal Blimp
    Typeface Off
    The Fontain

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jun 15, 2007 1:03:27 AM CDT

    At least you guys all have more of a sense of humour

    by half vader

    than I did. Except for Mr. Clarke. Typographical DAD jokes? Holy guacamole!

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jun 15, 2007 4:45:59 PM CDT

    Dad jokes?

    by mr clarke

    Damn right half vader, I've still got my scalpel and burnisher-elegant weapons from a more civillized age. My greatest regret was omitting the commas from my last post- tried to burnish 9pt Letraset ones onto the screen of this new-fangled typing television, but they just slipped off.

    Reply to Talkback

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