A little while ago I promised to discuss the superlative title sequence for Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events. So, without further ado…

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Graphic design annuals. They are, from what I can tell, a quick way to see what style is popular today, and a largely self-congratulatory resumé builder for design studios. They’re also considered by many to be a visual resource for graphic design professionals and students. However, since the annuals rarely contain any explanation of the project goals, purpose, or degree of success for the client, they’re mainly a style gallery. It always feels a bit like flying a plane over a city to find out about its citizens. And considering how much lip service is paid to ideas and concepts in our field, I’m always a bit surprised by this. Well, not that surprised. The annuals are also cash cows for the magazines, as entry typically requires an entry fee, so packing the magazine with winners increases the likelihood that others will enter for their chance to shine amongst the stars. This situation adds to the self-selecting nature of their showings, as well as the fact that a few judges have to sift through enormous piles of entries. (In fact, this process is so daunting we’re often told by the magazine about how hard it is multiple times.)

Do I sound a bit snarky and skeptical of design annuals? Well, I am. But a former co-worker friend and I figured out a way to make the most of these industry exercises and bring a degree of depth and exploration to the normally overwhelming and sometimes demoralizing experience of scanning design annuals. The topographic survey of the design annual took on the qualities of an archeological dig as we turned over the earth and held up each find, bringing both of our views to bear to divine something more.

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In the name of further tootelage of one’s own horn…

Typographica’s ’Our Favorite Fonts of 2005‘ list is out! Growing interest has pushed the list to two parts this year, which is pretty sharp. This time I chose Porchez Typofonderies’s Deréon. My little piece is in part 1, but be sure to keep an eye out for part 2.

Our Favorite Fonts is an excellent resource for quickly putting your finger on the pulse of type design and get a quick look at some of the most interesting and notable fonts released during the year. Plus, the authors are type and graphic designers, which gives this list a bit more depth and character than a straight-up specimen list. Lots of great work this year.

I thought about picking my favorite font that I didn’t choose, but there are just too many. Zingha and FF Maiola struck me at first glance, but each one gets more interesting the more I look at them.

My first full-length article for Typographica is now up. Check it out here.

A little while ago (November-ish) I was on our friend Elise’s balcony and while looking out over the sterile and bland landscape of Arlington, VA, I noticed something on the sidewalk below.

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I was at The Council on Foreign Relations in NYC recently for a thing and saw this gorgeous marble plaque inside their building, which is the former home of the Pratts.

It’s a bit crowded, but beautifully so. What it lacks in clear hierarchy it makes up for by rewarding closer examination. The quirks it reveals are a part of that reward, such as the capped ’N’ with the A-like form created by the first leg’s backward step, and that crazy lowercase ’g’ that I appreciate because they are so odd, but work well in the conext. Though I’m still not sure what the motives were for that ’N’. Part of me wonders whether it was a mistake made to appear intentional through repetition (oops).

It’s not the best example of cut letterforms. I’m not as into the lowercase letters, particularly as they get smaller. Also, there seem to be a few issues of consistency in the second line and the cut of the aforementioned lowercase. But, all in all, it really struck me.

Thanks to David Bravo for taking the photo for me.

AT&T, now owned by SBC, has released their newly “refreshed” logo. So, what do you think?

I’m particularly interested in the opinions of non-designers. For that reason, I’m going to reserve my own comments until later. I’d like to hear some genuine thoughts on whether you like it, does it represent the attributes of “innovation, integrity, quality, reliability and unsurpassed customer care”, is it better than the old one?

Here’s the full press release on the logo.

Since I’m on the topic of movies and type, now’s probably a good time to scold the awful job of typesetting done for Constantine’s opening titles. This was actually brought up by Sabih from Tank Design earlier on Current Config, and now I’ve got a capture of the type, now that the film’s on DVD.

Look at that. Holy crap, that’s bad type. I realize I’m more attuned to it that most, but I don’t think you need design experience to see how oddly spaced that Futura* is. And considering that the titles are about, oh, 5 seconds long, how did that get through?

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My experience, generally, with movie-related type is that it’s either fascinating and great, or a marketing-driven non-decision. So, it’s always nice to see a great face used for movies. In this case, Hoefler & Frere-Jones’ Requiem is the typeface and The Exorcism of Emily Rose is the film.

The expected choice here would’ve been Carol Twombly’s Trajan. So much so, in fact, that a short film about Trajan’s abuse by the movie industry was made.* Fortunately, the designer(s) responsible gave the project an extra depth with a gorgeous typeface inspired by a 16th century Italian serif design. Requiem has all of Trajan’s stature without the imperious Roman character. Requiem’s design has thinner, slightly more ornate feel that gives the characters a biblical religious tone with just a tinge of malevolence that harmonizes perfectly with the ancient evil in the film. It’s a bit like old, dark, wrought iron: beautiful, unless you’ve got a reason to think otherwise, then it’s a little creepy.

Unfortunately, whoever’s responsible for the web marketing lacks the subtlety or the funds to pick up on this good decision. Guess what they use instead?

How’d you know?

*I’ve got nothing against Trajan, per se, but it’s a lot like Mrs. Eaves: a great design with such a degree of obvious character that it’s a very safe choice, even if it isn’t the most appropriate or interesting solution. In a way, it’s the perfect choice for film marketeers: say a whole lot while saying nothing at all.