Bad Type Worldwide

It’s now been two months since I left Europe and I’m coming to grips with the fact that I’m not returning (at least not anytime in the near future). I suppose it’s probably also time to hang up this blog, or at least this iteration of it. Therefore, a final post devoted to some of the places I was able to visit over the past two years that will bring us full circle.

When I first arrived in Switzerland I wrote a couple posts detailing my dismay at finding the much maligned Comic Sans font at use in a country known for good design and typography. My silence on this front in the time since may give the inaccurate impression that my encounters with Comic Sans came to an end. Unfortunately, the truth is far more sinister. In almost every country I visited, I spotted examples of the dark side of globalization.

Here, a goodbye to Europe and a good riddance to awful typography:

Geneva, Switzerland


Vevey, Switzerland


Montreux, Switzerland

Note: Italicizing it doesn’t make things any better

Interlaken, Switzerland


Annecy, France


St. Gervais, France


Paris, France


Madrid, Spain


Barcelona, Spain

No, outlines don’t improve the appearance either

Dublin, Ireland

How can a brand as large as 7Up stoop to such lows? And Fido Dido still exists? If you say so, Dublin…

London, England


Budapest, Hungary



Bold, outlined, AND with a killer gradient in the background? Sign me up!

Prague, Czech Republic

Not only do we get Comic Sans (which appears to be squished), but there’s also a second horrifying typeface on display

Hamburg, Germany


Rome, Italy

There is just so much going on here that I don’t know where to begin, so I’ll just let the photo stand for itself.

Athens, Greece

This isn’t Comic Sans, and fortunately I didn’t see any Greek version of the font. However, they had plenty of their own display faces including this exciting example.

Zurich, Switzerland

I was pleased that Swiss design centers Basel and Zurich appeared Comic Sans-free. But I did find this stacked Hobo on display in the latter city.

Paris, France Part 2: Art

I like art, but I don’t always like an artist’s most well-known painting. Paris has a lot of well-known works by a lot of well-known artists, many of which I was forced to study in my collegiate art history courses. They also have a fair amount of other stuff that doesn’t get as much attention, which is what I most gravitated toward at the three art museums I went to (the Louvre, the Musée d’Orsay, and the Centre Pompidou).

First up, the Louvre. Everyone I’ve ever talked to has mentioned how impossible it is to try and see the whole thing. That was fine, because I didn’t really care to spend my Friday night looking at Etruscan antiquities or tapestries from the Middle Ages. Okay, so that’s a bit flippant, but the truth is that I was most interested in the paintings and was seriously underwhelmed by them. For example, I like da Vinci but have never been too interested in the Mona Lisa. Therefore, seeing it in the, er, oil was all the more anticlimactic (the thing is small).

Despite all of this, it was good to have the experience of being there — plus, Friday nights after 6pm are free to young adults under 26 so Maggie and I didn’t have to pay or stand in line to get in. And in Paris they must figure there’s no way they could police so many people, so photos are allowed (without flash).


I.M. Pei’s glass pyramids


the inner courtyard


inside


taking people taking pictures of famous paintings is as much fun as taking pictures of the paintings themselves!


Winged Victory


thoroughly unimpressed (but I was there!)

The next day I spent the afternoon at the Musée d’Orsay which is a little more my speed: lots of impressionism and related movements. I enjoyed the collection a great deal, though the rooms where the really famous stuff is (i.e. Monet and Van Gogh) were a little claustrophobic for my taste.

Here are some highlights:


the museum is housed in an old train station


“Enigma” by Gustave Doré


A room from the Art Nouveau collection


A bed from the Art Nouveau collection – this is what my parents’ guestroom needs


The disciples on the road returning from meeting the resurrected Jesus; appropriate for Easter weekend






Whistler’s Mother and friends


I really like this Cézanne – the texture alone is beautiful


great Seurat

I spent Easter Sunday afternoon taking in my favorite of the three museums, the Centre Pompidou for modern art. In addition to their expansive contemporary art collection, they have an amazing range of art from the modernist era onwards. I don’t know how many hours I spent there, but I do know it was worth the hour wait to buy tickets.




A couple exterior shots


Fibonacci crocodile. ’Nuff said.


I think this guy pairs with the Orsay’s polar bear quite nicely


Picasso’s “Guitarist”






The Juan Gris pieces (above three) were my favorites of their cubism collection


Beautiful Alexander Calder mobiles, beautifully displayed


sweet Magritte




The Bauhaus room


And finally, a lovely piece by Kupka

All in all, I really enjoyed the works and found more than a little inspiration to keep me going for another few months.

To come: Montmartre and Easter dinner

Vroom!

I am not a car guy, so I am probably not the best person to report on an autoshow. However, since I roomed with two industrial designers in college, I felt obliged to attend Geneva’s huge spectacle this year (especially having been to Detroit’s while in school). Here then, some stray observations from Geneva's International Motor Show (held from March 6-16th at the city’s expo center, literally a 5 minute walk from my apartment):



• There are lots of people who have more money than I ever will

• Detroit had more impressive showfloors (though that was 5 years ago...)

• Eco-friendly is the way to be! (At least in Europe – almost all major automakers were displaying some form of alternative energy or hybrid vehicle)







• These folks know their audience: tiny cars abound while SUVs, trucks and other American monsters are few and far between.





• Props to Mini and Mercedes for providing free water (it was hot in that giant expo center)

• Haha, yeah right, Toyota:



• However good an idea supergraphics seem, if they completely take away from the beauty of your vehicles, it’s probably best not to plaster them on EVERY SINGLE ONE of your cars at the show (BMW)





• If you’ve ever dreamed of sitting in a stationary car while rotating on a showroom platform, this is the event for you

• Today’s designers must really like HotWheels. I can’t think of any practical use for any of the following features:










{this last one is the much-publicized fully aquatic car}

• Is it ironic that Ford (an American company) centers a lot of their space around soccer (included foosball for the kids)?



• Most spokesmodels wore either stylized labcoats or 60s-style retro-future fashions. Smart is obviously going for the hipster crowd (complete with lapel buttons) and Mini an even more accessible audience (just tees and scarves on their reps):





• This car is ridiculously badass:







• I’m really glad it’s over so I can take the bus again without having to cram in like a sardine.