It's nice for typography to get recognition in the mass media occasionally, but a couple of items doesn't constitute a trend.

Remember when Hoefler and Deck were in Wired?

Another snippet: in eye 50 (the latest, winter 2003, "typography" issue), a short story about an Australian newspaper that ran a feature on Stephen Banham's "Death to Helvetica" campaign.

Anyone in an obscure line of work (Notwithstanding Crime Scene Investigators) can relate to the puppeteer in "Being John Malkovich".

True enough Nick, but Zapf looks mighty smashing in a suit!

Nick, Wired and Eye are both niche market magazines. National Public Radio and Vanity Fair have a very much broader audience, which is something fairly new in terms of public consciousness of type design.

Wired had a mighty big niche before the bust, 400,000 in 1998 when it was bought by Conde Nast. Vanity Fair has a circulation of 1.1 million. (Thanks, Jeeves.)

Yes, eye is a small circulation journal, but the newspaper that carried the story about Banham was a mass-circulation, daily mainstream paper, The Age, in Melbourne, Australia.

I'm sure there are occasional stories in various countries' national media about type design, but they will always be isolated incidents.

I was on the front page of the Montreal Gazette and in several other papers across Canada in 2001 when I designed the Richler typeface, and was even interviewed on TV (wearing a tuxedo, actually, Eric, on my way to join the glitterati at the Giller Awards). That was my 15 minutes!

I made it in "Flare Magazine". Along with other super male models.

Headlines "Man Cast type from steel". I really thought that made me super�manly.

Oh, I was beautiful.

Anyone in an obscure line of work (Notwithstanding Crime Scene Investigators) can relate to the puppeteer in "Being John Malkovich".

Are you refering to the fact that the puppets were based on WA Dwiggins marionettes? ( a very round-about way for typography to get mass media attention)

Not really (I didn't know that).

In the movie, the puppeteer's fantasy comes true, and puppeteering becomes recognized as a major art form. Actors give up mere acting, to learn the craft from the maestro, and become puppeteers themselves. The annual puppeteering "Oscars" become a huge media event.

"And the award for best typeface goes to..." (billions around the world are glued to their TVs)

> "And the award for best typeface goes to..."

Vincent Connare, duh.
Or the mystery guy who made Chalkboard, same difference. ;-)

hhp

Wow! Scans please please.

Jan Kj�rstad http://www.aschehoug.no/forfattersider/kjaerstad/cover/gb_frames_setup.html wrote a book where the protagonist is a type designer trying to design a typeface that'll seduce it's readers/viewers.
Type actually makes for all right allegories.
I once made a typeface-as-a-joke when the whole Dolly (the sheep, not the Dolly of Dollywood) thing was in the media, all the characters in the font were the same.
Nobody laughed much though, a joke that you have to download, un-stuff and install is simply too tiring.

Karen, scans of what? Vincent prancing around Cannes?

Kenn, pretty interesting.

hhp

Scans of Zapf in VF, Nick in Montreal Gazette, Giampa in Flare, etc...