Art & Copy - film about adverising

I've heard alot of hype for this movie for a while now. Finally saw the trailer, it looks better than what I heard. If you are interested in adverting and creative ideas in general this is a must see! The films website, artandcopyfilm.com.

Here is a synopsis of the film: ART & COPY is a powerful new film about advertising and inspiration. Directed by Doug Pray (SURFWISE, SCRATCH, HYPE!), it reveals the work and wisdom of some of the most influential advertising creatives of our time -- people who've profoundly impacted our culture, yet are virtually unknown outside their industry. Exploding forth from advertising's "creative revolution" of the 1960s, these artists and writers all brought a surprisingly rebellious spirit to their work in a business more often associated with mediocrity or manipulation: George Lois, Mary Wells, Dan Wieden, Lee Clow, Hal Riney and others featured in ART & COPY were responsible for "Just Do It," "I Love NY," "Where's the Beef?," "Got Milk," "Think Different," and brilliant campaigns for everything from cars to presidents. They managed to grab the attention of millions and truly move them. Visually interwoven with their stories, TV satellites are launched, billboards are erected, and the social and cultural impact of their ads are brought to light in this dynamic exploration of art, commerce, and human emotion.

Original Ideas

While cleaning out some boxes, I found old projects from college. What you see above is from a book making class I took in my freshman year. I created my own paper clip fonts, that was then pressed into the paper and bound. For the project, I decided to reinterpret the Dick & Jane - See Spot Run books. I was playing with the idea of readability and how much of the word you actually need to see before your brain fills it in. (click on book above to see bigger and clearer)

I thought this was such a great original idea back then - But when I started studying graphic design and graphic design history, I soon realized this wasn't such an original idea. Futurist artists back in the late 1800's early 1900's had already started to play with typography. Then discovered a bunch of designers and artists that had also played with typography. So much for my "original" idea. But it seems, every couple of years someone new pushes the boundaries of typography - Every designer pushes it a bit further than the last one. Below are some artists and designers that played with typography way before I did.

Some what in order: Piet Zwart, H.N Werkman, Lucien Bernhard, A.M. Cassandre, El Lissitzky, Alexander Rodchenko, Willem Sandberg, Robert Massin, Paul Rand, Alvin Lustig, Saul Bass, George Tscherny, Ivan Chermayeff , Rosmarie Tissi, Wolfgang Weingart, Dan Friedman, April Greiman, Louis Fili, Carin Goldberg, Paula Scher, Rudy Vanderlans, Katherine McCoy, Edward Fella and I'm stopping at David Carson. (Photo above in same order of names, left to right. I'm sure I skipped a few artists and designers here and there - this is a small slice of graphic design history.)