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The entire Swiss Legacy team wishes you all the best for 2011!

We hope this new year will be as good as 2010. Thank you again for your great support!

Five years ago I began work on my first documentary, Helvetica, which looked at the worlds of typography and graphic design, and their impact on our visual environment. After Helvetica was released in 2007, I had the idea for a second film, Objectified, which focused on industrial design and product design, and our relationship with the manufactured objects that surround us. While working on Objectified, I realized I wanted to make a third film that would also examine how design affects our lives, and began thinking of the films as a “design trilogy” of sorts.

The third documentary in this trilogy is about the design of cities. Urbanized looks at the issues and strategies behind urban design, featuring some of the world’s foremost architects, planners, policymakers, builders, and thinkers. Over half the world’s population now lives in an urban area, and 75% will call a city home by 2050. But while some cities are experiencing explosive growth, others are shrinking. The challenges of balancing housing, mobility, public space, civic engagement, economic development, and environmental policy are fast becoming universal concerns. Yet much of the dialogue on these issues is disconnected from the public domain.

Who is allowed to shape our cities, and how do they do it? Unlike many other fields of design, cities aren’t created by any one specialist or expert. There are many contributors to urban change, including ordinary citizens who can have a great impact improving the cities in which they live. By exploring a diverse range of urban design projects around the world, Urbanized will frame a global discussion on the future of cities.

Urbanized is currently in production and will premiere in 2011. We’ll be releasing more details about the cities, projects, and people featured in the film in the next few months, along with a proper site. Once again I’ve teamed up with cinematographer Luke Geissbuhler, and I hope you’ll follow along as we complete the film and finish this third exploration into the role of design in our lives.

This newsletter will now get back to a monthly schedule, but my Twitter feed is probably the best way to keep up with news during this process. Comments, questions, suggestions? info@urbanizedfilm.com

Cheers!
-Gary

“The best-seller swiss game Helvetiq is now available on the iPhone. Everything you always wanted to know about Switzerland but were afraid to ask.” Developed by Jilion.

Just Wim… Funny…

American Artifact chronicles the rise of American rock poster art since its birth in the ’60s.

Director Merle Becker crosses the country interviewing rock poster artists from the different eras to discover that America is currently in the midst of a 21st century “rock poster art movement”, where thousands of artists around the country are doing silk screened rock poster art inspired by their local scene, the music of our time, and the spirit of our era.

The film features interviews with renown artists including Stanley Mouse, Victor Moscoso, Frank Kozik, Art Chantry, EMEK, Tara McPherson, Derek Hess, COOP, Jay Ryan, and more, as well as fans, collectors, and musicians.

Scheduled release for the film is June 20th, 2009.

It was about time… Follow us now!

Identify the fonts in a photo or web graphic!
Ever seen a great font in a magazine ad, poster, or on the web and wondered what font it is? Whip out your iPhone and snap a photo, and WhatTheFont for iPhone will identify that font in seconds!

Instant gratification
WhatTheFont for iPhone connects directly to MyFonts’ acclaimed font identification service, which has been helping customers pinpoint mystery fonts for 10 years. It works via Wi-Fi or the mobile phone network, so you can get your font fix right there on the spot.

Equal opportunity
iPod touch users — you may not have a camera, but you can still get in on the action! WhatTheFont for iPhone will identify fonts in images saved from apps such as Safari and Mail.

Features
- Snap a photo right within the app
- Choose saved photos from the Photo Library
- In-phone image processing optimizes upload for speed and accuracy
- View font details in Safari or e-mail a link to yourself

The official site of creative group LOWE in Brazil features all content alphabetically, by TAGS. Users can navigate by keyboard only.

Matt McInerney from Typoholism just informed me he launch this nice Twitter-related website.

Typoholism.com is a single serving twitter app. It searches twitter for the hashtag #typoholism and displays it on this page.
In truth though, this site is just an ellaborative hoax created to trick you into listening to Read Between the Leading, a design and typography podcast.

The Design Auction 09 is being held in collaboration with the St Bride Library in London – the event will be held at the Library and we will be donating half the proceeds to the Library.

The current design studios involved are: Pentagram (Paula Scher), AVA, True North, Magma, YCN, Studio 8, Spin, SEA and Johnson Banks.

The St Bride Foundation relies upon donations to carry out its work and keep its doors open. They provide lectures, performances, lessons and activities for all ages and interests and keep the St Bride Printing Library open free of charge.