Brightwurks Debuts 'Here's to the Crazy Ones' Letterpress Poster for Charity [Update: Pulled]

[coolmanclyde]

Having spent nearly 20 years as a designer and Creative Director, I can say definitively that the one constant is the cattiness of designers. "I could do that better," seems to be the tagline of the designer world, where ego is everything and the worry of being proved wrong is non-existant, because what we do is completely subjective.

To be sure, there are some design choices that are universally reviled, and almost any amateur can pick out a piece that enjoyed care and thought vs. one that didn't.

This poster, as it seems many of you might have missed, evokes memories of the original Mac's wysiwyg font menu. If that was intended, I anticipate at least some of you would say, "oooOOOOooooh, NOW I get it." If it wasn't intended, it's a happy coincidence that it has deeper meaning than simply being an arrangement of display faces.

I, for one, like it. Would I have done any of it differently? Of course I would have, I'm a designer, and we don't leave things alone until they look right *to us*. But I didn't design this poster, so I don't get to make those choices. Instead, I get to appreciate the perspective of another designer, find the beauty in his (or her) choices, and decide whether it accomplishes its task. I feel this poster works well.

That said, $95 is a pretty big hit for a poster in this economy. One thing that ISN'T subjective is economics, and that price point is totally unrealistic, regardless of the printing process and paper used.

The bigger point though, is what I always tell my designers: design for meaning, design for beauty. NEVER for ego.

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In the end, exactly. Yes. That is all that matters.

Do you by chance know any way to get the names of these typefaces? The original typefaces or bitmapped texts? Or an equivalent? I have found several topics online about the regional typefaces they originally made, chicago, monaco, san fransico, etc. but these are not the ones that are used.

I enjoy the poster, but I enjoy it even more knowing the tid-bit you shared with us! Originally I was going to purchase the poster but my wife stated that I should re-create it and print it myself, probably a good idea seeing that I have a BFA. So I am currently in the process of recreating the poster with a slight variance of course. Any help is appreciated.

 

[zync]

Do you by chance know any way to get the names of these typefaces? The original typefaces or bitmapped texts? Or an equivalent? I have found several topics online about the regional typefaces they originally made, chicago, monaco, san fransico, etc. but these are not the ones that are used.

I enjoy the poster, but I enjoy it even more knowing the tid-bit you shared with us! Originally I was going to purchase the poster but my wife stated that I should re-create it and print it myself, probably a good idea seeing that I have a BFA. So I am currently in the process of recreating the poster with a slight variance of course. Any help is appreciated.

Someone already posted a similar hi-res version a page or so back if you want to save yourself a few hours.

If you want to find the original fonts, maybe a google search for Mac OS font menu or something will help. There's a book I'm reading right now where they explain a little bit about who designed a few of their fonts. It's called Just My Type: A Book About Fonts.

 

[Molecule]

For everyone who's whinging about the typography, look at it this way: at least it wasn't done in Comic Sans.

 

[zync]

For everyone who's whinging about the typography, look at it this way: at least it wasn't done in Comic Sans.

Out of curiosity are you British or Canadian perchance? I see a lot of people using whinging instead of whining, and it's weird to me, so I'm wondering if it's a British spelling variant since the Old English word is closer to whinge than whine.

 

[Molecule]

Out of curiosity are you British or Canadian perchance? I see a lot of people using whinging instead of whining, and it's weird to me, so I'm wondering if it's a British spelling variant since the Old English word is closer to whinge than whine.

Australian. And yes, we speak British English (technically we speak Australian English, which is a localised version of British English). I can't speak for other countries, but whinge is a lot more common than whine here, most likely due to the British influence. But for the record, it's not a variant spelling of whine - it's a different word altogether

 

[matrix07]

I like it. Even and especially after the first thought, and the next one…

The "mess" of fonts reminded me to Steve's love for typography, which eventually was the reason why the Mac got awesome fonts and was designed with typography always in mind. So except for the fact, that this fonts orgasms are very popular theses days, it really fits the topic here for me. It makes it different once again. Different than what many commenters here would've expected.

(PS: Helvetica is a good font, just using it doesn't make you a designer. Pls keep in mind, overusing can kill even the best font.)

Bravo! Took 2nd page before someone with a good taste first came in. I don't understand the bashing this poster got. The "messy" typos was designed to be contrast with a minimalist environment, a kind of place most likely have Apple computers. And it's a play with retro style. This poster is nicely done. Hat off to anyone who did it.
I have a degree in Art btw.

 

[zync]

But for the record, it's not a variant spelling of whine - it's a different word altogether

How so? From what I've gathered, they're the same. Now this is really interesting.

I do know that they can be pronounced totally differently—'winj' vs 'wine.' But I've read that some pronounce both as 'wine.'

 

[Molecule]

How so? From what I've gathered, they're the same. Now this is really interesting.

I do know that they can be pronounced totally differently—'winj' vs 'wine.' But I've read that some pronounce both as 'wine.'

From the New Oxford American Dictionary (the one that comes with OS X):

whinge |(h)winj| Brit., informal
verb ( whingeing ) [ intrans. ]
complain persistently and in a peevish or irritating way

whine |(h)wīn|
noun
a long, high-pitched complaining cry
• a long, high-pitched unpleasant sound
• a complaining tone of voice
• a feeble or petulant complaint

(emphasis added).

I've never heard whinge pronounced as 'wine' - it's always 'winj' around here.


Molecule

 

[zync]

I didn't notice a difference because I didn't look up whine. Connotatively here they are exactly the same. Whine is use in both cases. Interesting. Thanks.

 

[george-brooks]

This poster looks sooo...Windows. Steve would not have appreciated such unrelated fonts grouped together!!

 

[Aggie113]

Bumping this, I think the poster design is the exact opposite direction it should/could have been taken.
I myself have taken a digital scan of a copy of the 11x17 box that I got off ebay years ago and have taken great pains to redo (cleaning up, didn't change the look) it into something that I was able to blow up to large poster size. It looks great, no issues with the font and the pictures were all resourced from higher rez versions so it looks like it was made for poster prints
Fits great along side my other 24x36 Think Diff poster that I have.