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RESOURCES
Type-Specifi c Films
and Documentaries
A visit to YouTube (www.youtube.com) reveals dozens of items about type and typography. For example,
try entering “typography school” for a great short fi lm about the London College of Printing, now
the London College of Communication. In addition to those made by amateurs around the world, several
more ambitious fi lms about typography already exist or are in production at the time of this writing.
Helvetica
www.helveticafi lm.com
Helevetica, a feature-length independent fi lm pro-
duced and directed by Gary Hustwit, looks at
typography, graphic design, and the eff ect of both
these on global visual culture. It achieves its goal by
focusing on how a single typeface, Helvetica (),
has managed through proliferation of use to pop-
ulate so many of our urban spaces, and in doing so
provokes a much larger conversation about the way
that type aff ects our lives.
The cast of renowned typographers and type
designers interviewed throughout the fi lm reads
like a who’s who of typography and includes Erik
Spiekermann (), Matthew Carter (), Massimo
Vignelli, Willem Hendrik Crouwel (), Hermann
Zapf (), Neville Brody (), Stefan Sagmeister,
Michael Bierut, David Carson, Paula Scher,
Jonathan Hoefl er (), Tobias Frere-Jones (),
Experimental Jetset, Michael C. Place, Norm, Alfred
Hoff mann, Mike Parker, Bruno Steinert, Otmar
Hoefer, Leslie Savan, Rick Poynor, and Lars Müller.
The fi lm premiered in March and
subsequently toured fi lm festivals and art house
cinemas in more than cities and countries
before receiving its television premiere on in
November . It was shot in high-defi nition and
in locations around the world including the United
States, the United Kingdom, The Netherlands,
Germany, Switzerland, France, and Belgium.
Danny van den Dungen from Amsterdam-based
design company Experimental Jetset
Helvetica metal type
shot at Manfred
Schulz’s letter-
press in Frankfurt
The font Helvetica on the
streets of New York
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Typeface
www.typeface.kartemquin.com
This fi lm is, in essence, a celebration of the perseverance and
preservation of tradition alongside the convergence of tradi-
tional techniques with modern design sensibilities. It is set in
Two Rivers, Wisconsin, a quiet Midwestern town struggling to
survive amidst encroaching unemployment and the exodus of
larger businesses from their rural roots. One local individual
with entrepreneurial leanings, Jim Van Lanen, begins devel-
oping small museums to attract tourism and industry to the
area. The most popular of these is the Hamilton Wood Type
and Print Museum () housed in a section of the enormous
old Hamilton print factory, now closed for business.
During the week, business is slow, with only the odd indi-
vidual wandering in to greet the museum’s lone employee.
But come Friday, the scene changes dramatically. For one
weekend each month, the old machines spring back to life
when hoards of designers and artists congregate from all
over the Midwest. People who count themselves among the
region’s top creative talent attend printmaking workshops led
by some of the industry’s leading practitioners.
This fi lm documents a fascinating combination of the his-
torical with the contemporary, illustrating how important
the legacy of this disappearing craft is to the creative envi-
ronment in which we work today. It is a fi lm about people who
believe that the future of their industry depends on the pres-
ervation of knowledge of the past.
Stills from the
fi lm Typeface
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Guy Trower setting type on a Linotype
Matthew Carter showing a sign from his days at Mergenthaler Linotype
Jesse Marsolais talking about the Linotype machine
Linotype: The Film
www.linotypefi lm.com
Linotype: The Film is a feature-length documentary that
charts the eff orts of a small group of people dedicated to
saving from total extinction a piece of typographic history.
The Linotype () typecasting machine, invented by
Ottmar Mergenthaler in , completely revolutionized
type setting and printing. The machine cast an entire line
of type at a time (hence the name “Line o’ Type”), able to
operate six times faster than the most skilled hand-com-
positor. This meant the printing of newspapers and books
spiraled, dramatically changing writing, journalism, and
society in the same way the Internet changed today’s
methods for distributing information.
The machine was an instant success and tens of thou-
sands were manufactured and used all over the world.
However, by the s (), the technology was out of date
and machines were routinely scrapped, leaving few intact
and operational.
The fi lm follows a group of former Linotype operators
and enthusiasts in their quest to restore recovered machines
to their former glory, and to keep the old skills alive to
be passed down to future generations. What makes this
fi lm diff erent is that it is not simply a sentimental journey
lamenting the loss of a traditional technology. Rather,
viewers are asked to look at the Linotype’s place in our
current age of new technology and why anyone should care
about typography or the technology used to produce it. The
fi lm seeks to answer these far-reaching questions. Produc-
tion began in August with fi lm slated for release in late
fall . The fi lm’s website includes a trailer and details of
ongoing production.
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Making Faces: Metal Type
in the 21st Century
www.makingfacesfi lm.blogspot.com
Making Faces: Metal Type in the st Century documents the
working methods of Jim Rimmer, a Canadian graphic artist
and typeface designer, and follows the process of creating a
new version of a font. The fi lm began as a project to record the
making of Stern, the fi rst-ever font issued simultaneously
in digital and metal formats. Richard Kegler, who founded P
Type Foundry (), directed the fi lm.
Metal type making is in danger of becoming a lost art as time
passes, and few people still possess the skills required to cut
and cast metal type. Even fewer makers are also type design-
ers, but Rimmer did design many of his own faces. The fi lm,
which follows his technical working method, is interspersed
with insights into his creative process and his inspirations. It is
not a how-to fi lm but rather an inspirational piece for anyone
who admires and values the handmade skills and traditions
that remain so important to typography despite massive tech-
nological advances. Sadly, Rimmer passed away in January
, so the fi lm also stands as a testament to his work.
Stills from the fi lm
Making Faces
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