Nice story on the film today in London’s Daily Telegraph:

“The replacement of a previous era’s idiosyncratic signage — hand-drawn, pictorial, full of energetic italics — by a font that is characterised by its focus on clarity and grid-like segmentation mirrors the growing homogenisation of our cities; the clamour, clutter and mystique of the manufacturing era giving way to the over-lit, deodorised landscapes of the post-industrial service economy.”

Read the full story…

Realized I hadn’t done a post on these screenings from the week before last. It was a busy week, with encore screenings in Portland and San Francisco, and the Vancouver GDC screenings with 1,000 people in attendance. Portland was dyn-o-mite: a screening for the staff at Weiden+Kennedy (thanks Eric and W+K 12!), and our return to the always fun Hollywood Theater. And at the San Francisco screening, the Consul General of Switzerland, Jean-François Lichtenstern, came to see the film!

It’s official: the Swiss Government loves Helvetica

Then I was off to Vancouver for the massively sold-out premiere, organized by the Society of Graphic Designers of Canada. Over 1,000 people were there, along with Helvetica acolyte and local hero Douglas Coupland and Canadian type legend Jim Rimmer. Jim also received an honorary award from the GDC that evening. Douglas rambled hilariously about about fonts and pharmaceuticals. Thanks to Cory, Mark, Danielle, and everyone at the GDC for putting on one of the biggest events we’ve had. And thanks for Julio, the cinema’s projectionist, for tech service above and beyond the call of duty.

I know, it’s crazy, but they just keep on coming: Phoenix, Copenhagen, Winnipeg, Sheffield, Cleveland, Amsterdam, and more:

http://www.helveticafilm.com/screenings.html

So I was helping out with some work on the site this morning, and I inadvertently deleted this entire blog… I was freaking out, thinking back on the months and months of postings that were now lost, and pondering the impermanence of this digital medium. Thankfully our ISP occasionally backs up our server, and they were able to restore it…

Here’s some of the metal type we’ll be including in the limited-edition boxes. Vintage examples of Helvetica Extended Bold… cast at the old Stempel foundry in Germany. Nice.

In these two interview clips from the DVD extras, legendary type designer Hermann Zapf discusses his career, and gives his thoughts on Univers, Helvetica, and coffee…

The DVD edition of Helvetica is now available for pre-order, in two flavors. The retail edition of the DVD includes over 90 minutes of bonus interview footage from Massimo Vignelli, Erik Spiekermann, Matthew Carter, David Carson, Paula Scher, Stefan Sagmeister, and other designers from the film. There’s also a special limited-edition package, with letterpressed mini-posters, a signed C-print, a letter of actual Helvetica metal type, and other goodies. Release date November 6, but pre-order now and you’ll get the DVD before it’s in shops!

Tickets are now available for the September 1st premiere event at the ICA London. Join me, design writer Rick Poynor, and designer Michael C. Place (Build) for a screening, Q&A, and ICA bar event with special guest designer DJ sets! Get tickets quickly, there are less than 200 total available…

Portland, near the Boathouse.

Handpainted sign by John Downer

It was exactly one year ago that I attended TypeCon in Boston, and showed three minutes of raw footage from the film. I know what you non-designers are thinking: “C’mon, there’s actually a convention for fonts???” You better believe it, pal. So it was only fitting that I return to this year’s event (held in Seattle this time) and screen the film as the Seattle premiere.

The crowd at the TypeCon screening

700 type geeks crowded the University of Washington’s Roethke Auditorium and were greeted by the Honorary Swiss Cultural Consul for the Pacific Northwest (!)… apparently August 1st is Swiss National Day. I guess I should’ve known that. It’s celebrated each year with town-wide paper lantern parades, bonfires, hanging strings of Swiss flags, and fireworks. After my suggestion for an indoor bonfire at the theater was nixed, I opted for waving a small Swiss flag around the rest of the evening.

Matthew Carter and Linotype’s Otmar Hoefer joined me onstage for a Q&A afterwards. I loved Otmar’s answer regarding Helvetica’s readability as body copy: “Well, you can read it… if you want to.”

Veer also unveiled a cool new Helvetica Film coffee mug at TypeCon… I didn’t get any pictures of it, but I’m sure it will be on sale at Veer.com soon.

Thanks to the amazing Tamye Riggs, JP, the TypeCon volunteers, the UW staff, the Veer gang, and everyone in attendance.