Hasta La Ideas

Despite this weekend’s massive snow storms putting a very slight chink in its armor, James Cameron‘s new film Avatar certainly wasn’t hurting too badly either at the box office, nor with critics or in fan reviews. But while there’s substantial buzz about things like the film’s use of 3D or how it’s as ham-handed as Titanic but somehow the spectacle more than makes up for it, there’s some negative opinions out there among the type crowd. The issue is over how close the film’s title is to the much-maligned Papyrus font, the one regularly used to on posters made in Word and in bad advertising to make something look either old or rustic. The very funny Papyrus Watch (a site we now have bookmarked) takes a few cracks at the poster here, as does Bleeding Cool, who included a brief conversation they had with the font’s original creator:

That’s pretty much the Papyrus font folks, created by Chris Costello in 1982. And used to death on tat ever since. Costello says, “Although many despise the font, right up there with Comic Sans, and Helvetica, I think even more people absolutely love it” — well, add James Cameron as a new fan.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

If you read just one thing this Friday morning, we recommend that it be Erik Spiekermann‘s reflections on the past twenty years of his company (which has gone through a variety of names, ultimately ending up as FontShop). There’s a nice introduction putting all the pieces together, with Neville Brody and Spiekermann working together, along with a small handful of others, to launch the company that would grow to become one of the biggest names in type. It’s a nice look from Spiekermann’s perspective (sometimes via Yves Peters and a host of other contributors) at how a little company that could actually did. Here’s a bit:

You have to realize there was no real business plan for a few years, and not much distinction between FontShop and FontFont. Only when I got busier with MetaDesign and had less time for the font business did we start getting more organized about publishing fonts. Don’t forget it originally started as a mom and pop shop with [Joan Spiekermann] and myself in 1988. As soon as we had the first fonts in the warehouse (which was the cellar below MetaDesign’s small offices), Joan hired [Petra Weitz]. That must have marked the start of the business proper.

Weitz also has her own full entry, as does Joan Spiekermann, about memories of the company’s past 20 years, which is also highly recommended reading.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Matteo Gualandris e Giacomo Gambineri, esplorano la Science Fiction Typography ispirandosi ai telefilm americani di fantascienza dagli anni 30 agli anni 70. Si dice che per conferire questo stato di usato alle pagine, le abbiano tenute in tasca per giorni!
[Via]

Ed Rusha, via But Does it Float with more about the artist here.

{Reese’s Graphic Arts}