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April 2009
The Master Reads
It a truth universally acknowledged that the Hitler-loses-his-shit scene from Downfall is an almost endless source of comedy gold if you play around with the subtitles. Finally, a version that cuts to the chase on a subject very dear to me:
The New Rail Alphabet
Available at last! Margaret Calvert and Henrik Kubel have released the New Rail Alphabet, their gorgeous revival of Calvert's classic design for British hospitals and transport networks in the 60s. As you can see, it's like a Helvetica, but with a touch more warmth to it.
There was a feature about the design in the latest issue of Eye magazine, in which the new typeface was called Britanica, but there were some lawyer-y concerns, and they finally decided to go with something a bit closer to the original name.
Diesel type
Sorry for the shitty photo, but it gives a glimpse of the awesome use of wood type to jazz up the fitting rooms in the Diesel men's shop on Carnaby Street. There's also a nice border of type going around that floor-to-ceiling mirror. The staff got fidgety when I started to take pictures, so I had to retreat before taking out my good camera for better shots. Maybe if I go back at a quieter time I can sweet-talk them into letting me do more. Or just check it out yourself if you can: they redecorate often, though, so don't put it off for too long.
Surprise shame
I’ve always known that my music collection is filled with a wide enough variety to both please and horrify just about anyone. (The surprisingly brilliant Don Ho cover of Shock the Monkey to which I’m currently listening, for example, does not encourage neutral reactions.) Once in a while, however, something sneaks in under my radar — usually something picked up, like crabs, when you're not paying close enough attention to what you're getting up to. You know, like you find a reference to an obscure, out-of-print 80s soundtrack song or something that you simply must have since you haven't been able to find it anywhere through legitimate means, but it's bundled up with other stuff and you never take the time to separate the wheat from the chaff.
that’s the only scenario I can think of that would explain how fucking Michael Bolton just came blaring out of my speakers to make my ears bleed.
Kids, stealing music comes with its own forms of punishment. Don't do it.
You will like my sense of style
"Let me adorn you, the bold design of you." I absolutely love this song from Towa Tei's second solo album, Sound Museum. When it came out in 1998, I had no idea who Kylie Minogue was (and although I can appreciate the appeal now and then, I still can't consider myself much of a fan of hers), and it was years before I realized she was the voice on this brilliant track, the only song about a typeface I’d ever encountered. At time, though, my greatest disappointment was that the typeface itself — included on the CD — was impossibly dreadful.
German Bold Italic — Towa Tei, featuring Kylie Minogue
(I’d offer the font, too, but I don't seem to have a copy of it anymore. I don't recall it having a EULA.)