Helvetica is a feature-length independent film about typography, graphic design and global visual culture. It looks at the proliferation of one typeface (which will celebrate its 50th birthday in 2007) as part of a larger conversation about the way type affects our lives. The film is an exploration of urban spaces in major cities and the type that inhabits them, and a fluid discussion with renowned designers about their work, the creative process, and the choices and aesthetics behind their use of type.

my friend just gave me a copy of this movie and i just finished watching it. it’s a really good documentary about helvetica, the font itself, and typography and graphic design in general.

the interviewees are the well-known designers. a lot of them are european (yes, that’s not new.)

ah, yes, i just realized how often this font is used. helvetica is everywhere. i probably should use one here!

i’ve seen the use of this on many, many sites like wowhead.com, etc. this javascript application used to display images is called "lightbox." i think it would be really handy for my daytime work as well.

the original lightbox can be found here.

i’m working on this one web site project for my friend. the site will be finalized using joomla, one of the free (open source) cms. during our discussion (or brainstorming?,) he mentioned about this site: css-website.

so what is it?

css-website is just a showcase of sites done using css. i’ve seen it before but that was a while back when i was enjoying another css showcase site: css zen garden. a lot of sites on the css-website are really amazing, both in design and css functioning. i didn’t know i can move stuff around within browser using css, and probably some javascript functions. see this one for what i’m talking about: http://melissahie.com/

i better get back on track. play less wow and study more css stuff. yes, that’s the plan. heh…

edit: i am 90% certain that hie site uses javascript to control its static animation. if you visit her site, you should know what i’m talking about.

http://www.isobre.com/

that was the site and i saw a link to it on pc world site (if i remember correctly.)

the whole thing was based on the apple’s commercial when they launched macbook air, the super thin apple notebook.

these macbook sleeves are really neat, though.

so the city of vallejo has officially filed for bankruptcy today, a move signaled by its city council earlier this month as it struggles to avoid running out of money amid steep city personnel costs and sliding revenues from a housing slump.

this is weird to me but probably normal for the americans.

ok… i’ve just heard about this via wowinsider, where i read my wow news, mostly. anyway, cbs is buying cnet.com. this is interesting to me. the traditional media company is buying out the new media (internet) one. probably it’s just easier buying something well established.

click here to read about this on yahoo!

…with things i need to do and things i might want to do. i think i’m tired.

there is a trade show coming up in june. i’ll need to make sure i finish the catalog in time (or on time, depending how people see it,) finish the postcard which has to be mailed out, hopefully by may 23, finish some projects the big boss kept putting on my desk over the past 2 weeks. they are not that tough; i barely have to use my brain to work on these. they are just more or less tons of drawings in illustrator.

also, my friends wants me to work on some design projects for them. i’d want to just quit my saturday job and do these projects. yes, i’m tired of that job. it’s boring and has nothing to do with my career. yes, working 6 days a week is killing me.

but then… i wonder how did my parents do it? they’ve been working 6 days a week for like more than 30 years. john said that it was just because their work place is where they live. there is no commute needed for them. but still, i think there are more than that. parenthood, maybe?

it’s not totally new news but i just heard about it yesterday.

ziff davis media, publishers of egm, games for windows magazine, and 1up.com, filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on march 5th. then a month later, they announced that the games for windows magazine would go online only!

it’s pretty much like their 1up.com will absorb the editorial team, not the graphic staff. as of now, i’m happy i don’t work for them. if i remember correctly, a few years back, i applied for a job at one of their magazines, too.

about this online only thing, it does make sense. people have access to internet. they get news/reviews and everything gaming-wise off the net. there are many sites offering this kinda of thing. the magazine just can’t compete with those sites.

probably the end of print media is close?

came across this site today, html2pdf. if you need to archive some web pages into pdf, with links and such, this might be the one for you.

source: pc world site

i’ve been listening to online radio through winamp for a while now. it’s free and has a wide selection of music to choose plus it shows you the artist name and song title…easier for me to get a hold of the song if i do not have one in my collection! i normally went with the ’80s channel until recently…i found this “britpop” channel as a part of aol radio (current owner of winamp) so i hopped on and now i’m hooked.

i grew up with parts of late ’80s and early ’90s music and got fully exposed to britpop when i was in college. the bands like manic street preachers, oasis, and suede were really popular at the time and they are more or less ones of my favorites.

i’m happy i found this channel!

also, i just bought “the brit box: u.k. indie, shoegaze, and brit-pop gems of the last millennium” collection from rhino records. yes, it’s a bit pricey but i got $25 off buying the collection through amazon (credit card reward that is) so it’s not totally bad.