The debate in 1991: digital or hand-crafted type?
"Metal setting is practised today by only a handful of specialists, but it continues to provide the standards by which good typesetting is judged. Photosetting, and the computer setting which has largely displaced it, are criticised for being too perfect and lacking the character of hand-crafted type. Now, increasingly, designers are using desktop publishing systems such as the Macintosh to do their typesetting. The technology has matured considerably over the last two years and the time is ripe for a reassessment: is good typesetting possible on the Macintosh?"
(Andy Benedek, 1991)
Andy Benedek (1991). "The craft of digital type" Winter no. 2 vol. 1, Eye Magazine.
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Simon PerkinsSHARE
Helvetica: feature-length independent film about typography, graphic design and global visual culture
"Helvetica is a feature-length independent film about typography, graphic design and global visual culture. It looks at the proliferation of one typeface (which celebrated its 50th birthday in 2007) as part of a larger conversation about the way type affects our lives. The film is an exploration of urban spaces in major cities and the type that inhabits them, and a fluid discussion with renowned designers about their work, the creative process, and the choices and aesthetics behind their use of type.
Helvetica encompasses the worlds of design, advertising, psychology, and communication, and invites us to take a second look at the thousands of words we see every day. The film was shot in high-definition on location in the United States, England, the Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland, France and Belgium."
(Gary Hustwit, 2007 Swiss Dots Ltd.)
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Simon PerkinsSHARE
The typography of Jean-Luc Godard
"To me watching the films of Jean-Luc Godard is like watching a white Rauschenberg painting or listing to John Cage's '4:33': it isn't something I do for entertainment. They're historically significant because he broke all the rules in the book, but I just don't enjoy watching them. Since I only add titles from films I've seen myself there weren't many Godard films present in the Movie title stills collection.
On december 3rd, Atelier Carvalho Bernau released a free typeface to celebrate Godard's 80th birthday. The typeface was inspired by the title sequences of Godard's 'Made in U.S.A' (1966) and '2 ou 3 choses que je sais d'elle' (1967). When I started googling I found surprisingly few stills or videos from Godard's films, that's why I decided to add the most interesting ones to the Movie title stills collection.
I've located almost all films from the earlier part of Godard's career and took all stills containing typography: titles from the opening title sequences, intertitles and end ('Fin') titles. Like silent films Godard used lots of intertitles, which make his films much more typographic than other films from the '60s and 70's.
It's quite interesting to see the designs evolve. In this digital age it's refreshing to see type that isn't made on a computer: the imperfect and handmade look of the letterforms, the bad kerning, the large gaps between letters and words, the justified blocks of text, the awkwardly dotted capital I's. Even when he used an existing typeface - like Antique Olive in 'Week end' (1967) - the letterforms look as if they were cut out with an Exacto knife.
Sauve qui peut (la vie) (1980) is the last film featuring custom typefaces. In his later films Godard used existing typefaces like Futura, Univers, Helvetica and Garamond."
(Christian Annyas, 16 December 2010)
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Simon PerkinsSHARE
