“Helvetica is a classic. Helvetica is played out. Each of these statements is true to an extent. The world’s most recognizable typeface will soon star in a new film that documents both its omnipresence and its timelessness.

There are many reasons why Helvetica is so widespread. The most obvious being that a few weights have been bundled with the Mac OS for years. It is arguably the most respectable of the “default” fonts. But it’s also used because it’s a safe, neutral choice. For many purposes, typography is more about content than style. Fans of Beatrice Warde will tell you that typographers should communicate without distraction. Helvetica, with its simple, unadorned forms, is the perfect crystal goblet. Even its ubiquity contributes to its neutrality — letters so common they become invisible.

But invisibility isn’t always appropriate, particularly in advertising or branding where individuality is key. Here we recommend our favorite fonts from the grotesque genre that offer something different from Helvetica (or Arial) — whether it’s style, warmth, or extra features like small caps, figure alternates, and additional widths.” (Thanks On Paper Wings!)

“Happy back to school and welcome to Command Save! We have uploaded a ton of PSU professor profiles to read as well as grad interviews! This space will be used to post relevant links for PSU graphic design classes as well as feature AIGA student group information, student work, design events, Portland happenings and general PSU design program excitement. If you are a grad and have a website, let us know! If you are a PSU student and have a website, let us know! If you have links that you are dying to share, let us know!”

“Vintage offset printing and ink effects for any design, photograph, type treatment or image in Photoshop.

Realizing that printing technology has left printed work without the texture, soul, or the spirit of vintage printing, Mister Retro created Permanent Press!

Take any design, photograph, type treatment, or image and transport to another time and aesthetic with our powerful and easy-to-use plug-in GUI interface. We spent thousands of hours developing this one of a kind plug-in sure to bring your work to the next level.”

“Past examples of structured grid design and typography by Swiss masters such as Josef Müller-Brockmann continue to influence both print and interactive design to this day. However, after realizing there is no shortage of Müller-Brockmann fan clubs, I wanted to explore some of the other, maybe lesser-known founders of the International Typographic Style. My search led me to a typographer and designer by the name of Emil Ruder (1914-1970), who played a key part in the development and dissemination of the Swiss Style.”

Kevin Kelly: “Raven maps are artwork. They are the most detailed US state maps you can find on one sheet. Printed in exquisite detail on heavy paper, they radiate clarity. Their colored shaded relief highlights the topology of their place with intelligence and precision. Unlike most maps, Raven maps deliver two perspectives at once — an expansive overview and tiny close-up details — a very rare combination you won’t find in an atlas or road maps.”

“This book references the varying standardized formats and systems used within graphic design. Part sketchbook, part reference book and part notebook — it is a space for composing and visualizing layouts, sketching and developing ideas, taking reference and making note.” (Thanks Coudal Partners!)

Last week was the end of our FlowingData personal visualization project. I asked readers to collect data about themselves or their surroundings and then visualize it some way. Thank you to everyone who participated. It put a smile on my face every time I got an email with ’summer project’ in the subject line :).”

Dan Zettwoch: “I reckon I’m a little bit too young to have used actual store bought halftone paper, like the legendary (and out of business) Zip-a-Tone, which was clear plastic adhesive sheets with black dots printed on them in a variety of spacings. For a while though, I made my own “poor man’s Zip-a-Tone” out of laserjet transparencies and paste them right on my inked art with glue-sticks (see above). This was punk but messy and time-consuming to I moved to “thinking man’s Zip-a-Tone” which involves a computer (”rich man’s Zip-a-Tone?”). Here’s my process…”

“Typechart lets you flip through, preview and compare web typography while retrieving the CSS.

• Browse typographic styles. (See “anatomy of a style” below)
• Download CSS
• Compare Windows (ClearType) rendering with Apple font rendering
• Each style corresponds with a “style ID”, which allows you to annotate prototypes and retrieve the css while coding.”

“Given all the brouhaha over self-published books (or, more accurately, books on demand) I thought I’d give it a shot myself… A few days later, my little booklet arrived in the mail. What can I say? While on the outside everything looks fine (apart from the fact that the image on the cover is stretched slightly), the images inside the book look like crap.”

“Since 1971, the Art Directors Club Hall of Fame has recognized and honored those innovators who have made significant contributions to art direction and visual communications, and whose lifetime achievements represent the highest standards of creative excellence. An essay from the Board of Directors in the 51st Art Directors Annual reads, ‘This year we inaugurate the Hall of Fame. The nomination and election each year of these people will help to educate and inform not only the young people entering our business, but we hope will serve as an inspiration to all of us. In their hands, advertising and graphic communication [becomes] an art form.’”

“Over the last months we have seen a strong trend towards more individual web designs. These designs use realistic motifs from our regular life, such as hand-drawn elements, script fonts, pins, paper clips, organic textures and scrapbooks… apart from visual design elements one can also get creative with the layout of the site – its structure and the way the information is presented and communicated. To provide you with some ideas of how exactly it can be done, we have been collecting examples of creative design layouts.”