The benefit auction for my Freitag bag (stuffed with added goodies from the film) and the last few special-edition box sets is almost over!

They sold out in two minutes… this is crazy…

The only ones left are the 10 copies we’re auctioning off as a benefit for A Public Space.

The excellent Brooklyn non-profit arts magazine A Public Space sponsored our New York cinema run at IFC, and now we’re returning the favor by auctioning off 10 of the sold-out limited-edition box sets as a benefit for them. Plus, I’ve donated my personal Helvetica Freitag bag, as seen in the movie. It’s the yellow one with the X on it that you see being made at the factory. Inside the bag, you’ll find a limited-edition box, a Helvetica T-shirt, a copy of the latest issue of A Public Space, and special extra goodies. It’s all for a good cause, so bid now! See all the auctions. I’m sort of having second thoughts about this… I really like this bag!

You probably know that the 1,000 copies of the limited-edition DVD box set sold out the week we started taking pre-orders back in August. After the dust had settled from the shipping date a few weeks back, we discovered we still had 50 copies left in the warehouse. So this afternoon (Monday, December 17th) at 2pm EST, we’ll put the last 50 box sets on sale in the web shop. THERE IS A LIMIT OF ONE BOX SET PER CUSTOMER. Head to the Helvetica web shop at 2pm EST (New York time) today for yours.

Public Radio International’s Studio 360, the excellent show hosted by Kurt Anderson, just broadcast a story that featured Kurt and I walking around New York City, pointing out (guess what) all the Helvetica.

It opens with an audio clip from “Wheel of Fortune” where Pat and Vanna discuss their favorite fonts. I’d heard about this before, but never actually heard it. Classic.

Listen to it on this handy player below. And leave a comment on their site.

Note to self: try not to say “uhm” and “ahhhh” so much…

Apologies for the lack of posts recently… I’ve been trying to get back to normal (whatever that is) following the screening tour, and the DVD release week was nuts. I’m in London at the moment, pretending I’m a cinematographer and helping my friends at Plexi shoot the band Spiritualized in concert at the Union Chapel.

A string quartet… gospel singers… sunglasses… broken-hearted love songs… and I’ve been trying to up my camera skills so this is a nice way to do so.

There are also screenings of Helvetica this week in Dubai (!), another encore run at the Siskel Film Center in Chicago, and a run at the Roxie Cinema in San Francisco.

Cheers!