Classic Movie type

The Quiet Man.***

Since my introduction to the entrepreneurial world (which involves some hunger, a lot of anxiety, and much freedom), I've been cutting costs like a store having a fire sale the day after Christmas. All items must be sold! Bargain prices! SELL SELL SELL! 

I solved my "watching t.v. on a budget" dilemma through the acquisition of a cheap digital antenna and converter hooked into the back of my flat screen and...voila! There it was; the moving images we've come to know as modern t.v. The baddest part was the first channel it tuned in: a bitchin' classic movie channel aptly named "Movies!" with a capital "M" for a logo (which suits me just fine), airing a "Sinbad" movie with original Ray Harryhausen* stop-motion animation. WOW!

It's given me access to a host of golden oldies I wouldn't have found before, enhancing my education through the knowledge that humans really haven't changed all that much since the invention of modern cinema, because we really haven't. Families still struggle with dysfunction, powerful addictions, cycles of poverty, illness, and other dastardly things, albeit played by handsomer folk than that girl next door, but that's not very different than any other type of storytelling. 
If you're going to see a show, why not look at some pretty people? 
It'll make the time go faster.

The artist in me especially loves the opening credits, like a beautifully illustrated book with a gorgeously set title page. I've always preferred trailers over a full-length feature (for obvious reasons, like my time), and classics are no different. Check out some typesetting from back in the day, and bask in the knowledge that artists have always lead the way, whether you've realized it or not. You're welcome!

From the original 1943 version of "Heaven Can Wait".**

*     http://www.rayharryhausen.com/
**   http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0523932/bio?ref_=nm_ov_bio_sm
*** http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Quiet_Man

Type: Ye Olde Printers' Shop

Foundry type.

Years ago, printers set type by hand, using complicated blueprints from designers as a guide. It seems like something from the 18th century now, because that's how fast technology moved has forward, but when I first became an apprentice in publishing, I still did some mechanicals (the schemata for books that go the printer: http://astoundingartifacts.blogspot.com/2011/03/original-science-fiction-artwork-pt-4.html) by hand. We used "stat cameras" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stat_camera) that made "repro", terms from graphic arts from a time gone by the was only in the 90s. Some people are nostalgic for hand set type, but rest assured, it was a long, slow, tedious, repetitive process best suited for temperaments that didn't change quickly. I wouldn't design today if I had to do it.

Plates for printing.

We separated into cover designers and interior designers for books because the rapid progress sorted out brains into those who could absorb computers well and those would couldn't, and most of the time it became the difference between the flash of art on the cover that drew in buyers in 3-5 seconds (which is how fast we take in information visually), and those we preferred the pace of turning a page slowly one by one. Oh, I know crossovers who can do both (yes, I can), but for me, this type of nostalgia has become about those who can merge left and right brain tasks, with the stereotypical "artist" or "designer" who thought our work was really about one task, and one task only, in the dust. For masters, it never really was. Welcome to the new world, global thinkers. Stretch out and grow (and think), because this is our time to shine (once again). 

Read it and weep....for joy:

http://www.pinterest.com/mariedoucette/reading-writing-books/.

This week in TYPE

It was a rich week for me with type. 
I found great examples almost everywhere I went: the label on a cute stuffed animal, crafts displayed at the local library, the nameplate of a dentist at a professional office building, and 
a killer edition of ESPN magazine devoted to the sports of boxing, MMA, and wrestling. What's NOT fun about Lucha Libre?!

 

What kind of 
visual week did you have?

 
Yo, check it: http://www.pinterest.com/mariedoucette/type/.