# Favorite documentary about fonts? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 21, 2017, 8:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-documentary-about-fonts/796871 "2017-09-21T08:53:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Fool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Fool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fool)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2017, 8:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-documentary-about-fonts/796871/1 "2017-09-21T08:53:49Z")
I’ve been searching the internet trying to find good media about fonts and the art of typography. Anyone has a recommendation on good articles/documentaries/films or anything of the sort about type? I’d appreciate any recommendations! ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2017, 9:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-documentary-about-fonts/796871/2 "2017-09-21T09:29:17Z")
I enjoyed the documentary **Helvetica** - only one I recall off the top of my head. ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2017, 10:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-documentary-about-fonts/796871/3 "2017-09-21T10:08:31Z")
Netflix has a documentary series called _Abstract: The Art of Design._ One of the episodes was on graphic design, which touched a bit on fonts/typography (ep 6). But I highly recommend all eight episodes, if you loved films like _Helvetica._ ---
**Author:** ![JacobSwan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a6a055/32.png) [@JacobSwan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JacobSwan)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2017, 10:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-documentary-about-fonts/796871/4 "2017-09-21T10:08:43Z")
This has just dropped off iplayer but may be available via other means. > **[BBC Four - Two Types: The Faces of Britain](https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0903ppd)** > > Mark Ovenden tells the story of two of Britain's main typefaces - Johnston and Gill Sans. It talks about Johnston and Gill Sans and the people who created them. I watched it a few weeks ago and it was very good. It only mentioned the bestiality and incest in small doses though! ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2017, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-documentary-about-fonts/796871/5 "2017-09-21T14:46:43Z")
\*Helvetica \*is surprisingly good. So is [Just My Type: A Book About Fonts](https://www.amazon.com/Just-My-Type-About-Fonts/dp/1592407463) by Simon Garfield. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2017, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-documentary-about-fonts/796871/6 "2017-09-21T14:55:33Z")
You might enjoy [https://typesetinthefuture.com](https://typesetinthefuture.com) It’s focus is on the use of fonts in science fiction, but it’s still interesting reading. Someone here on the Dope got me hooked years ago by linking the [Blade Runner](https://typesetinthefuture.com/2016/06/19/bladerunner/) article. Full disclosure: I think type fonts are cool and I think about them more than the average person. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2017, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-documentary-about-fonts/796871/7 "2017-09-21T15:03:31Z")
There’s a podcast called Futility Closet that’s about odd and forgotten historical events. Just a couple weeks ago they did an episode about Thomas James Cobden-Sanderson, a very dedicated London printer who commissioned a typeface for his printing company, and, rather than see it go to his business partner after his retirement, threw it in the Thames; and the man who set out to recreate it, including hiring divers to look for pieces of the original. > **[Podcast Episode 168: The Destruction of the Doves Type - Futility Closet](https://www.futilitycloset.com/2017/09/04/podcast-episode-168-destruction-doves-type/)** > > In March 1913, Thomas James Cobden-Sanderson threw the most beautiful typeface in the world off of London’s Hammersmith Bridge to keep it out of the hands of his estranged printing partner. In this week’s episode of the Futility Closet podcast we’ll... ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2017, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-documentary-about-fonts/796871/8 "2017-09-21T15:21:08Z")
There’s more than one?? _Helvetica_ was very good. I didn’t know the world was ready for another font film. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![G0sp3l](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c68b51/32.png) [@G0sp3l](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/G0sp3l)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2017, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-documentary-about-fonts/796871/9 "2017-09-21T17:53:19Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > There’s more than one?? > > _Helvetica_ was very good. I didn’t know the world was ready for another font film. 🙂 My thoughts exactly!!! 😃 Not saying I wouldn’t watch, mind you, still. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2017, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-documentary-about-fonts/796871/10 "2017-09-21T18:19:46Z")
My evil side wants to make a film about kerning, just to ruin people’s lives forever. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2017, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-documentary-about-fonts/796871/11 "2017-09-21T19:19:06Z")
> [@G0sp3l](#): > > My thoughts exactly!!! 😃 > > Not saying I wouldn’t watch, mind you, still. :smack: Ditto. Helvetica came to mind immediately, followed by… nothing. ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2017, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-documentary-about-fonts/796871/12 "2017-09-21T20:21:46Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > Ditto. Helvetica came to mind immediately, followed by… nothing. How about a heartwarming family friendly comedy about Comic Sans? ---
**Author:** ![Fool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Fool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fool)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2017, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-documentary-about-fonts/796871/13 "2017-09-21T20:28:16Z")
I appreciate everyone’s posts and recommendations – this is actually incredibly helpful. Thanks guys 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![janeslogin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/df788c/32.png) [@janeslogin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/janeslogin)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2017, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-documentary-about-fonts/796871/14 "2017-09-21T20:50:08Z")
Dozens, perhaps scores, of articles, links etc. at: [I Love Typography](http://ilovetypography.com/) ---
**Author:** ![Evan\_Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b487fb/32.png) [@Evan\_Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evan_Drake)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2017, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-documentary-about-fonts/796871/15 "2017-09-21T21:37:53Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > There’s a podcast called Futility Closet that’s about odd and forgotten historical events. Just a couple weeks ago they did an episode about Thomas James Cobden-Sanderson, a very dedicated London printer who commissioned a typeface for his printing company, and, rather than see it go to his business partner after his retirement, threw it in the Thames; and the man who set out to recreate it, including hiring divers to look for pieces of the original. > > [Podcast Episode 168: The Destruction of the Doves Type - Futility Closet](https://www.futilitycloset.com/2017/09/04/podcast-episode-168-destruction-doves-type/) _However, a digital version of the typeface was painstakingly recreated by Robert Green from 2010 to 2013. In 2015, after searching the riverbed of the [Thames](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thames) near [Hammersmith Bridge](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hammersmith_Bridge) with help from the [Port of London Authority](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Port_of_London_Authority), Green managed to recover 150 pieces of the original type._ [**Wikipedia**](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T._J._Cobden-Sanderson) Golly. I can _well_ understand the ‘Samson pulling down the Temple’ impulse, but a font doesn’t seem important enough to deny to even an enemy. It seems amazing they were still there. Shows you can’t really annihilate much in this life. Says he married Richard Cobden’s daughter long after Dicky’s death. Cobden was entered as England’s entry into the Bore’s section of the Olympic Games several years running. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2017, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-documentary-about-fonts/796871/16 "2017-09-21T21:40:19Z")
There’s always the short mockumentary [Behind the Typeface: Cooper Black](https://vimeo.com/31237546). 🙂 (Actually, I don’t know if “mockumentary” is quite the right word, as it does have plenty of factual information within. Maybe “light hearted” documentary?) Yeah, _Helvetica_ is the only one that comes to mind. ---
**Author:** ![jaycat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jaycat/32/3015_2.png) [@jaycat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jaycat)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2017, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-documentary-about-fonts/796871/17 "2017-09-21T22:37:16Z")
> [@gaffa](#): > > My evil side wants to make a film about kerning, just to ruin people’s lives forever. Could somebody please pass an umlaut? ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2017, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-documentary-about-fonts/796871/18 "2017-09-21T22:46:40Z")
The only one I recall was about motorways, not fonts, but included a segment about the font used on motorway signs. I think it was [The Secret Life of the Motorway](http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b007xr62). ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2017, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-documentary-about-fonts/796871/19 "2017-09-21T22:50:29Z")
There was also a segment on Top Gear with James May interviewing [Margaret Calvert](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margaret_Calvert), the designer of the [Transport font](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transport_(typeface)) and various pictograms.