Continuing to blog typographic trends, the new New York City taxi cab logos have been cropping up around town. No... no... I'm not talking about the Garden In Transit project, which is in itself entirely amusing, delightful, and a breath of fresh air. I'm specifically talking about the logo on the side of the cab. The new taxi logo presents a fresh, clean, and modern look for cabs which in my opinion is long overdue. The logo shows that someone at the governors office is aware of aware of the city's image, aware of design, and wants to present our fair city as modern, clean, confidant, and sophisticated. The new NYC logo (on the left hand side, presented w/ the word Taxi), has been appearing in outdoor advertising and pamphlet brochures over the summer, only recently did the new identity make the jump into the fast lane. The new New York City taxi cab logo was produced and donated by Smart Design. More information and photos about the new addition to the NYC street scape can be found on the city's web site.

This weekend I visited the Espeis gallery to see the Helvetica 50 exhibit. In celebration of Helvetica's fiftieth anniversary, fifty designers were put to the the task of creating 50x50 cm composition to represent one year in life of Helvetica.

There are obvious strengths and weakness to the show as each designer was given free reign. However, the show over all is well curated, visually compelling, and worth a visit. The most compelling aspect from my point view was seeing the range of graphic styles that define the international graphic language of our time.

Espeis is located at 90 Wythe Ave., Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Helvetica 50 runs through September 30th. Limited edition (of 50) prints are available on line through Banka

Labels: design, gallery

Last night I headed over to Media Bistro's UnBeige party. The event was sponsored by Obliqsound and Karim Rashid. The event was one of the best social mixers I've been to in a long time. The people were friendly, the attitude was positive, and there was inspirational design and conversation all around. Karim made an appearance and spoke briefly about his outlook on life, design, and how he sees designers as creators of the future. His speech was brief but inspirational. Many of the points he made came from the principles in his manifesto, however his advice was much more compelling and powerful coming from the author himself.

Half way though the night, there was brief spotting of Stefan Sagmeister, which after seeing Helvetica recently, bumping into a personal design hero made the evening that much more exciting. Sagmeister's recent work continues to amaze me.

The Karim shop is located at: 137 West 19th St., NY. Stop by for a limited edition Obliqsound CD designed by Karim. And while you're there check out all the design goodness!

The past weekend Tricia and I went to see Helvetica, a documentary film by Gary Hustwit.

One friend asked when inquiring about our plans for the evening: "They made a movie about a font?"

Oh yes! They sure did and with good reason. The documentary film Helvetica is as much about Helvetica the typeface as it is about the history of graphic design over the past fifty years.

People are passionate about Helvetica. Old school modernist like Massimo Vignelli believe Helvetica is the only font that anyone would ever need to use. While other design legends such as Eric Siekermann and David Carson lay out their arguments as why its use should be abolished.

But more importantly, the film takes viewers through the use of Helvetica as it has passed in and out of style. Michael Bierut takes us through its introduction into commercial culture and how its was viewed as a breath of fresh air. Later, during the seventies, for example, Paula Scher points out its association with corporate entities, the government, and 'the man'.

But more importantly, what the film shows us is how Helvetica has superceded its ability to exist as the neutral entity it was originally designed as. Through its proliferation and and appropriation into the global dynamic of diverging capital culture, Helvetica is more than typeface. Helvetica is a cultural institution which each generation of design has developed their own unique relation to.

Helvetica the film is currently playing at the IFC in NYC and hopefully at an independent movie theater near you.

I've been trying to keep postings more focused on design and mobile technology then life events but this one is simply to big. Tricia and I got married! A few weeks ago actually. I'll post more photos on Flickr once we get them. Married, yes, with a rings on my finger and everything.

One year ago today Mike Bukhin and I were at Conflux!