To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the most overused typeface in the history of man, director, Gary Hustwit has filmed a documentary about Helvetica to capture the cultural impact of our venerable san serif. Shot in locations around the world, the film interviews Erik Spiekermann, Matthew Carter, Massimo Vignelli, Wim Crouwel, Hermann Zapf {yes that Zapf), Neville Brody, Stefan Sagmeister, Michael Bierut, David Carson(!) to name a few.

Keep an eye out for a screening coming to a film festival near you or watch the trailers. May Helvetica destroy Arial and reign over all that is decent and good on Earth.

[Helvetica - a Documentary]

I stumbled across this gem of a site by Dave Combs bancomicsans.com. I hate Comic Sans too, not as much as Arial, but it’s up there. I am reminded of a quote, “There are no bad fonts, just bad context” Except for Comic Sans, Hobo and Giddyup. Some fonts have one purpose in life and any other usage just suck eggs.

Take Papyrus, if you own a store that sells wicker or handmade paper, great. If you think Papyrus is gonna add some humanity or softness to your greeting card, wrong and you are a complete hack for thinking that way.

Check out Ban Comic Sans and the interview with Dave Combs at Earz Magazine.

[Ban Comic Sans]
Why Ban Comic Sans [Earz Magazine]

Designer’sMind has a great article titled Five reasons to turn down a potential client.

I don’t have any money, but this will get you some great exposure!

I’m not sure what I want, and I won’t pay if I don’t like it.

I have a few other designers in mind, can you create a few mock-ups and maybe I’ll pick you?

The have a pretty good writeups on why you turn down clients who say these things. What isn’t addressed the part if this dialog that is the designers’ responsibility, client communication.

I’ve always said that 80% of successful design is client communication, the creativity you should have already had down pat or you’re in the wrong business to begin with. You have to learn to no only ’sell’ the design but teach the client the value of the design. If they bought a truck for $60,000, the value and investment is very tangible. When the client is shopping around for a $60,000 website value is a capital investment as much as a truck. That’s the hardest part about design is showing a client why clear messages and identity positions them for future growth, creating a sustainable consumer market.

What you should take from wisecrack advice in DesignersMind is always work raise the value of your design and all creative work. Work on Spec, ‘pro-bono’ work for clients with money, and overly-cautious clients damage that, but remember it’s also up to you to find ways to teach the client along the way. If the client doesn’t feel they are part of the process, all you’re doing is student work.

Five reasons to turn down a potential client [DesignersMind]

It’s widely known that corporations liberally borrow or co-opt emerging youth culture in order to remain relevant to the under-35 consumer. However some companies, notably clothing designers are so morally and creatively bankrupt they will actually steal art and designs from smaller designers in order to meet the bottom line. Or even worse, re-purpose artwork of creative firm outside of the contractual accepted usage.

Urban Counterfeiters is dedicated to “bringing American consumers reports from small companies and artists who have been taken advantage of by large corporations.”, mostly centered around the shenanigans of Urban Outfitters and their blatant lifting of the artwork of others.

Check out their entry from March 17 about Crown Farmer getting jacked by the Man.

URBAN OUTFITTERS FUCKS CROWNFARMER (AGAIN) [Urban Counterfeiters]