Part one
‘Fry travels across Europe to find out how Gutenberg kept his development work secret, about the role of avaricious investors and unscrupulous competitors and why Gutenberg’s approach started a cultural revolution.’
Stephen Fry loves design. That’s one of the reasons he’s really cool. [Read more →]
‘I could not be happier about this, or any more proud to live in a city that recognise the importance of preserving this kind of work.’
Vintage signs unearthed and preserved in Copenhagen. Details here.
Found via Martin Klasch
‘The Who came to see me for a job. Then Cream. Then the Stones. And then The Beatles.’
Pictured, cover for Elton John’s 1975 concept album Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy by designer/illustrator Alan Aldridge.
Aldridge interview here. Book, The Man with Kaleidoscope Eyes here. Babel track, below.
Elton John: Tower of Babel
Los Angeles is famous for its billboards.
Pictured: 1925 promotional art for the Los Angeles real estate market by A. Asanger – from one of my favorite, inexpensive design resource books: Advertising Art in the Art Deco Style.
‘The film’s title is an allusion to Tatlin’s Tower. This animated short by Theodore Ushev is like a whirlwind tour of Russian constructivist art and is filled with visual references to artists of the era, including Vertov, Stenberg, Rodchenko, Lissitsky and Popova.’
Brilliantly done! From 2006.
‘Tatlin’s Tower or The Monument to the Third International is a grand monumental building envisioned by the Russian artist and architect Vladimir Tatlin, but never built.’
Article here.
‘We’ll explore the hot button topic of web fonts; antique type and lettering of the textile trade; the typography of Disneyland; making smart fonts even smarter; the influence of Charles Eames; liquid typography; west coast ‘Cholo’ style graffiti; and so much more.’
typecon 2010: babel
Big typography conference next week in Los Angeles. Wood Type preview in Carson today. Designer talks, workshops, dealer room, font makers, stuff.
and me
I’ll be giving my first ever TypeCon talk as part of their Type & Design Education Forum. My title is Tell Lies in the Classroom and Get Away With It. It will be as weird as what I normally do in a classroom.
Promise. [Read more →]
‘The broadside is printed on Mohawk Superfine Eggshell, White, 100t. Everyone attending TypeCon 2010 will receive a copy, courtesy of type quizmaster Allan Haley.’
A broadside tribute to ITC’s new Elegy font – printed in letterpress at Patrick Reagh Printers in Sebastopol, CA. The poster was typeset by the wonderful Ilene Striver – who’s managed to talk me into giving a presentation as part of TypeCon’s Education Forum – next Thursday. More about TypeCon in my next post.
More info about the broadsheet here.
Original ITC logotype handlettered by Ed Benguiat, 1970
Elegy typeface designed by Jim Wasco, 2010
“Where can I get a font of the script used for the ITC logo?’ For almost four decades, this has been one of the most frequently asked questions of ITC. The answer has always been the same: ‘You can’t. The ITC script logo is handlettering and it is not available as a font.”
Now it is. Introducing: ITC Elegy. Two years in production, Jim Wasco took apart Ed Benguiat’s original Spencerian-style script and put it back together with updated spacing and a bunch of stylistic changes.
Detailed article here.
Comparison: Elegy and the original
Found via Delve Withrington
Queen’s Radio Gaga. From 1984.
The video features public domain footage from Fritz Lang’s Metropolis (1927).
Metropolis’ New Tower of Babel; click for larger version/jump
Also in 1984, producer Giorgio Moroder updated Metropolis with a rock score – controversial for some purists. Queen’s Freddy Mercury contributed Love Kills to the soundtrack (video below); though unrelated to the Gaga single.
So far, Moroder’s new wave-esque version (due to music licensing) hasn’t been officially released on DVD. But in comparison to the original (which got a complete restoration just this year), Moroder’s music, color tints and enhanced sound fx result in a totally different, very 1980s film experience.
the work at the mehallo blog. beta. is licensed under a creative commons attribution - noncommercial - no derivative works 3.0 united states license. if reposting, credit must be given to steve mehallo - and if possible, please provide a link back to the mehallo blog. beta.
i include images for the purpose of critique, review, promotion and inspiration - and always make my best effort give credit/link back to the original source. if i’ve screwed up, please fire me a note.
page layout based on the wordpress 'darkwater theme' by antbag, adapted and redesigned by mehallo. valuable php assistance from bill mead.
