January 2008 – Page 3 – hexachromatic

Oxford empty

“He made no friends. His Oxford remained Oxford empty, and he took into life with him, not the memory of a radiance, but the memory of a color scheme.”

—E.M. Forster, Howards End, 1910.

Designed in 2006, Harry Pearce’s Burma poster has recently been attracting increasing worldwide media attention. This brilliant poster calls attention to Burma’s current humanitarian crisis viscerally, through the use of photo-realistic concrete typography, type that communicates visually as well as verbally. You can purchase one of your very own here. (Thank you Matt Monguillot.)

a long pause

“[T]here was a long pause—a pause that was somehow akin to the flicker of the fire, the quiver of the reading-lamp upon their hands, the white blur from the window; a pause of shifting and eternal shadows.”

—E.M. Forster, Howards End, 1910.

do not use semicolons

“If you really want to hurt your parents, and you don’t have the nerve to be a homosexual, the least you can do is go into the arts. But do not use semicolons. They are transvestite hermaphrodites, standing for absolutely nothing. All they do is show you’ve been to college.”

—Kurt Vonnegut, at the University of Wisconsin in Madison, September 22, 2003.

Woody Allen and Windsor Elongated

What is it with Woody Allen and Windsor Elongated? The stand-up comedian slash writer slash auteur director has used the little known font for the titles of at least 24 of his 43 (yes, that’s forty-three) films. Cristian ‘Kit’ Paul explores the phenomenon and reveals its roots in Woody Allen’s typography, at his Kit·blog.

the green noodle

“[A]t Barzino’s the patron is led to expect white fettuccine and gets it. Here at Fabrizio’s he gets green fettuccine. Why? It all seems so gratuitous. As customers, we are not prepared for the change. Hence, the green noodle does not amuse us. It’s disconcerting in a way unintended by the chef.”

—Woody Allen, Fabrizio’s: Criticism and Response, from The Insanity Defense; The Complete Prose, 2007.

a coat of many colors

“‘I was doing very well till you came along. I had myrrh and fig trees in abundance and a coat of many colors with two pairs of pants of many colors. Now look.’”

—Job, complaining to God; Woody Allen, The Scrolls, from The Insanity Defense; The Complete Prose, 2007.

A fine example of a demonstration

“A fine example of a demonstration was the Boston Tea Party, where outraged Americans disguised as Indians dumped British tea into the harbor. Later, Indians disguised as outraged Americans dumped actual British into the harbor. Following that, the British, disguised as tea, dumped each other into the harbor. Finally, German mercenaries clad only in costumes from The Trojan Women leapt into the harbor for no apparent reason.”

—Woody Allen, A Brief, Yet Helpful, Guide to Civil Disobedience, from The Insanity Defense; The Complete Prose, 2007.