Ha! Shameless, I know. But with a title like that, I couldn't resist.
But it's true. I really enjoyed this book, although I did skip over a few of the font history lessons. I was also glad that I finally read the book because my mom gave it to me last semester.
I started from the beginning (such a traditionalist), and I am glad I did because I really liked the personal essay at the beginning. Not only did it introduce us to Chip Kidd, but I find two things interesting about it: 1) unlike writers/authors graphic designers and editors are rarely known unless they are the cream of the crop even though they really pull the publication together and b) we get inspiration from everyone.
I bring up my first point because I can't name how many times I have seen the "All the Pretty Horses" book cover or the designer, but if I had been on Jeopardy or Who Wants to be a Millionaire, I could have come up with Cormac McCarthy as the author. Shame.
I also thought it was funny that a reporter/interviewer was able to see Kidd's design influences. I am not sure if that says more about the interviewer's preparation for the interview or Kidd's lack of introspection about his own art. Whatever, the case, I thought it was funny, especially because I think I see a lot of the publications I read come through in my design. I like clean lines and abundant white space so does Real Simple and Martha Stewart Living, which are both magazines I read. I just started subscribing to Esquire, so we will see if that changes my design. I also thought it was interesting that Kidd was so influenced by comic books.
This leads me to chapter 1: Comic Sans.
This wouldn't be a typography book without a few pages dedicated to the font everyone loves to hate. I am just going to throw it out there that I don't hate. I wouldn't use it on a wedding invitation, but a children's magazine? Sure. I was glad to get so sort-of love for comic sans from Kidd. However, I really enjoyed learning why it was developed. Hearing the story about the dog reminded me of when Microsoft Office tried using that friendly paperclip to help you. I wish I knew what font his little messages were in because I remember them being a less rigid and traditional font.
I really liked the intros to each of the chapters because they really connect you with the subject matter, especially chapter 2: Capital Offense. I hate when people use all capital letters. When I worked in Mississippi, our website was originally open for anyone to comment on. I would guess that about 80 percent of those comments in all caps, and it did seem like the people were yelling each other. It never seemed polite. However the most interesting part of this chapter was learning where the expression, "mind your p's and q's" came from as well as the idea of uppercase letters being called that because of their shelf letter. Definitely cocktail conversation! (Along with the Keep Calm and Carry On poster video)
Another chapter I enjoyed was "Can a font make me popular?" I really liked the part where they talked about designers having a hard time watching historical movies (which was one of many of the same references made in Helvetica) because of incorrect fonts being used. I thought this was intriguing because when "The Help" was filmed in Greenwood, Miss., the crew took a lot of care in finding fabrics and props from the appropriate eras, including a man in town who remade a whole street worth of signs. They brought in images of what they wanted, and he even hand-painted many of the window signs, such as the "whites only" on the taxis cabs. So now I wonder how accurate the fonts that they used for the signs really are. It was also funny to learn about the impact of the IKEA type change. I had no idea!
As I already mentioned there was a lot of overlap between the documentary and the book. However, the movie focused more on the "service" that fonts provide and there use for brands. I think the funnest part was the man who talked about Drink Coca Cola. Period. Helvetica. Period. Can't argue with him! I also loved the man who just pointed at all of the Helvetica signs. I think you could consider Helvetica a chameleon font. It seems to conform to so many different brands and feelings.
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