Typography in Doubt

Over the weekend, resigned to the couch while fighting a cold, I watched John Patrick Shanley’s movie adaptation of his own play, “Doubt.” It’s a truly superb piece of dramaturgy that’s gripping and not a little depressing, to be honest. But it’s also sure to reward any viewing, so thought-provoking and thoughtful are the plot and dialog throughout the movie’s 104-minute running time. That includes the movie’s beautifully simple titles, too. In fact, the titles of this film are so effective, they reminded me of how rare a thing is truly intelligent, rewarding typography.

These titles are not flashy at all, just quietly authoritative in their evocation of tradition and faith and understated in their suggestion of betrayal and suspicion. Though I can’t identify the typeface unequivocally, it’s almost certainly some variant of Cheltenham, a handsome serif face designed at the end of the 19th century by Bertram Goodhue.

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John Cantwell: Architecture in Ghostbusters

Ratings

3 of 5 stars
What’s this?

Not necessarily essential, but nevertheless amusing and actually quite convincing argument about the centrality of architecture in the Ivan Reitman classic (and its sequel). “The Ghostbusters’ quest is not for recognition, but simply for the right to exist, to be weird, to have different theories and succeed. Standing in their way are several forces of the ‘establishment’ — from Dean Yeager, to Walter Peck of the Environmental Protection Agency, to the Mayor — who repeatedly try to shut the Ghostbusters down. This battle against the establishment, so central to the Ghostbusters’ story, is reflected throughout the film by architectural setting.”

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Boulevard Voltaire

Boulevard Voltaire

For the next week or so, I’m in Paris again, visiting my father along with my nephew Justin, shown here on Boulevard Voltaire in the 3rd Arrondissement. Sadly, Laura is at home, edging ever closer to our due date. It’s so great spending time with my nephew, but it’s tough being away from the expecting mama, too. I guess it would be uncouth to complain too much.

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NYT: Nicolai Ouroussoff on Frank Gehry Being Fired from Atlantic Yards Project

Ratings

3 of 5 stars
What’s this?

From yesterday, a scathing condemnation of the recent turn of events in the continually controversial development project in downtown Brooklyn.

“The recent news that the developer Forest City Ratner had scrapped Frank Gehry’s design for a Nets [basketball] arena in central Brooklyn is not just a blow to the art of architecture. It is a shameful betrayal of the public trust, one that should enrage all those who care about this city… A new design by the firm Ellerbe Becket [is a] colossal, spiritless box, it would fit more comfortably in a cornfield than at one of the busiest intersections of a vibrant metropolis. Its low-budget, no-frills design embodies the crass, bottom-line mentality that puts personal profit above the public good. If it is ever built, it will create a black hole in the heart of a vital neighborhood.”

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Designing Tablet Magazine

Ratings

3 of 5 stars
What’s this?

Audio slideshow from designers Prem Krishnamurthy and Rob Giampietro explains the ideas behind the design of this sort of new magazine focusing on Jewish life. They’ve done a very nice job, but Tablet’s inadvertent similarities with various other online magazines, for instance The New Yorker, underscore how difficult it can be to create a distinctive online presentation for published content.

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