Watching these clips on the artists and designers kind of reminded me of very quick insights of the artists’ version of Inside The Actors Studio. Most of the artists were graphic designers, others were typographers and some were both, a few of whom were in the Helvetica movie. The clips on the artists themselves was more about a brief overview of what they did and their take on art and how art relates to life.
David Carson, one of the interviewees in Helvetica, didn’t really say much but it definitely showed the power of design. the intense music that accompanied the video was really dramatic and kind of scary! It also had a kind of somber and depressing tone too it as well. I wasn’t really sure what the film was supposed to be about but I got the feeling that he is more of a graphic designer rather than a typographer. Carson uses letters that almost look like they are clippings that belong in a ransom note. Yet what really stood out was that he used the letters and letter forms more as art that told the message from their rough edges and smudginess rather than letting people just read the message from the text and make their own opinions, he is telling people how to feel.
The Milton Glaser clip was probably one of my favorites. He is probably most known for designing the
logo and also for his
Bob Dylan poster 
.
In Glaser’s clip, his had a discernible point that art is a common thread among people, culture and society. He said that “Artists provide a gift to the culture so that the people have something in common.” and I like that this is his take on art. I think that art is such a big part of society and it has a huge effect in a social commentary way where it gives people a chance to express how they feel about things happening in society.
Finally, the other clip I watched was the Pentagram ’07 clip. It pretty much gave a brief history of how the company formed. This part was presented at warp speed but it was kind of cool too because it got to the point of how the company is always changing. I thought that this design firm had a unique take on their work culture. They said that there weren’t really titles or ranks of status, everyone was kind of equal and it also seemed that there wasn’t many separate offices of that of a corporate job, it was all kind of one big office. Anyway, I think the point of this clip was illustrated by the new design of the “P” from Pentagram. A designer took the P and cut it all up and then put it together in a semi-discombobulated way but it was still a recognizable letter. It all came together for a common cause, design, it is about movement and change.