I love documentaries. Last night I watched Helvetica. It was all about the naming and creating of that font. I did not know that it was created 50 years ago. It has always just existed for me. There were great gray haired type designers of the day talking about the creation. Lots of type designers were interviewed about Helvetica and fonts in general and creating type. (For some reason I was surprised and delighted that type designers seemed to be such a quirky group.) I know some people feel it is a cop out to just default to Helvetica. But Helvetica is classic in its design. And good design is good design whether it is over used or not, new or not.

I got the movie from Netflix but know I need to own this. If you are a graphic artist, type designer, or just like type this is a must see.

We were at MOA (Mall of America) yesterday finishing our Christmas shopping. Ran into Urban Outfitters (whose logo is done in Helvetica like Crate&Barrel and JCPenny) and I found a book called Olle Eksell swedish graphic designer. This book fascinates me even though it is written in Japanese and I can't read it. Above are several illustrations, there is also a wealth of great hand lettering. Olle Eksell appears to have had a full life as a graphic designer or in his day it would have been called commerical artist. Samples in this book range from 1918 - 1999. While a few things look dated the majority look like they could be done today. Once again proving that good design is good design. And the bulk of this book except for the Japanese font is done in yes, Helvetica.