With Calvetica add an event in just two quick taps. See how full your week or day is at a glance. It works with the built-in iPhone calendar but it’s faster.

Features
- Fast, fast, fast
- Works with the built-in calendar
- Uncluttered, minimalist interface
- Default alert time (editable per event)
- At-a-glance month view
- “Snoozable” alerts
- Type right on the hour in day view
- Helvetica

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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

Swiss Dots has produced a new limited-edition screenprint inspired by a 1960’s promotional poster for Helvetica, a version of which keeps popping up on Mad Men this season.

Hand screenprinted on archival 300gsm paper, A2 size (16 1/2″ x 23 1/2″) in a numbered edition of 100 copies, each signed by director Gary Hustwit. $150, order one here, while they last.

The internet has radically changed our understanding of information and how we handle text. As more and more messages are being communicated in plain text on digital platforms such as cell phones, more and more designers are trying to find solutions to counter this development. Many of today’s designers are developing innovative, more personal lettering techniques by hand that not only simply present content, but also enrich it creatively.

Playful Type 2 examines how designers are using a variety of techniques to produce typography and lettering in a range of innovative styles. As in other creative disciplines, there is currently a perceptible trend toward handmade solutions in typography that is reflected in the high incidence of calligraphy and illustrative design presented in the book. This publication not only features high-quality type design, but also diverse applications for this original lettering.

In addition to his work as editor of Playful Type 2, Jan Middendorp has contributed insightful texts and interviews with leading typographers that explore current developments. Middendorp is a well-known author, publisher, and consultant, who has focused on typography since the mid 1990s.

Release: September 2010 Available Soon!
Price: € 39,90 / $ 60,00 / £ 37,50

Publisher: Die Gestalten Verlag
Editors: R. Klanten, H. Hellige, J. Middendorp
Format: 24 x 28 cm
Features: 224 pages, full cover, hardcover

ISBN: 978-3-89955-318-5

Retrofonts celebrates over 400 of the most eye-catching and timeless fonts designed between the middle of the nineteenth century and the end of the twentieth century. Arranged chronologically, every section provides a historical, political and cultural context for the eras during which these fonts were created. Presented in the style of old type specimen books, the fonts are showcased in conjunction with visual examples of how they were used in an array of design applications.

Retrofonts will do more than inspire you – the enclosed CD that contains 222 copyright-free fonts will allow you to use these fonts in any way you choose, making this book an invaluable tool for anyone interested in graphic design and typography.

Price: $65
Author: Gregor Stawinski
Publisher: Mark Batty Publishers

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