Type, Type, Type

The New York Times today ran a review of a new movie, "Helvetica," which is, believe it or not, all about the career of the Helvetica typeface.

On the film's website, the director, Gary Hustwit, does a good job of justifying why he made a film about a typeface:

Why make a film about a typeface, let alone a feature documentary film about Helvetica? Because it's all around us. You've probably already seen Helvetica several times today. It might have told you which subway platform you needed, or tried to sell you investment services or vacation getaways in the ads in your morning paper. Maybe it gave you the latest headlines on television, or let you know whether to 'push' or 'pull' to open your office door.

Given the discussions I've occasionally participated in about what font editors prefer on manuscripts, I figured that there must be some readers out there who are as intrigued by this film's premise as I am. And hey, they interview someone who was a year or two behind me in high school, so it must be good.

Rosh Hashana

The Jewish holiday of Rosh Hashana starts tonight, as we enter the year 5768.

For those of you who are observing this holiday, shanah tovah, and have a happy and healthy new year.

For those of you who are not observing this holiday, have a good rest of the week and be advised that starting this evening, I will be away from the Internet until Saturday night at the earliest.

For those of you who want to know what it's all about, check out Judaism 101: Rosh Hashanah for a good basic introduction to the holiday.

I'm hoping that 5768 will be a better year for me than 5767.