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SALE TOMORROW in the Graphic Means shop! T-shirt, prints, pins, notebooks, and of course the DVD—15% off! (Does not apply to Vimeo On Demand streaming/download) go to http://graphicmeans.com/shop !
PRE-ORDER Graphic Means for streaming/download NOW! With Vimeo On-Demand, you can watch on iOS, Android, Apple TV, Roku, and Chromecast. If you prefer the DVD, that is for sale on the website, here.
Save the date, because on November 23rd, 2018, Graphic Means will be available for general audiences on DVD, iTunes, and Vimeo! The release will include extra scenes and subtitles in Spanish, French, German, Italian, Chinese, Russian, and Japanese!
If you're around on April 18 for Design Week Portland, join director, Briar Levit, for an evening of analog type!
We'll play with dry transfer type, the IBM Selectric, and lots of other fun pre-digital tools. This is a rare chance to experience making paste-up mechanicals, using the essential tools and materials graphic designers used daily prior to the advent of the desktop computer.
Light snacks and drinks provided.
Copies of the documentary “Graphic Means” will be available for sale, ahead of its release in May, as well as some fun, and very nerdy merchandise.
If you're interested in a screening near you before the film comes out on DVD/streaming in Fall, reach out to your local design organization or indie movie theater! You can send them to our screening page to submit a few bits of info so we can get them details.
The Portland premiere of Graphic Means.
Graphic Means has now officially premiered in Seattle at the Northwest Film Forum. From here through the Summer, the film will tour. Want to bring it to your town? Get in touch here. The film will have Spanish, French, and German subtitles, and perhaps a one or two more (in the process of this now).
This feat could NOT have been done without our Kickstarter donors, fiscal sponsors, Adobe Typekit, and the amazing team that worked on the film. Thank you, everyone!
Briar Levit (Director), Meghan Arnold (Adobe Typekit), and Nicole Miñoza (Adobe Typekit)
Norm Chambers (Music), Briar Levit (Director), Michael Gandsey (Sound Design)
It's really easy to request Graphic Means here! Thanks for helping us!
As you may remember from the last update, we made an unexpected trip to Berlin last month to meet with designers for 2 final interviews in order to ensure we had all the points needed to tell this story. Since then, we've been editing and animating away!
Top left is the work of Bernard Stein, bottom is Stein's proportion wheel and on the left is the great photo-illustrator, Gunter Rambow.
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The exciting news today is that we finally have concrete dates as we approach the finish line. Here's our distribution schedule:
April 15: Premiere the film at the ByDesign Film Festival in Seattle (website is still in production, but you can see last year's line up here.
April 16: Streaming link to eligible Kickstarter supporters (anyone who donated $25 or more)
Spring/Summer 2017: Film tours festivals/events/institutions worldwide (get in touch if you would like to host a screening: hello@graphicmeans.com).
Summer 2017: DVD (and other incentives) mailed to eligible Kickstarter supporters
September 2017: DVD for sale online and Vimeo On Demand streaming available
Early 2018: Availability on other streaming platforms like iTunes and Amazon
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While I was home, in the California Bay Area for the holidays, I had the chance to visit the Letterform Archive to do a little research into the Émigré collection they have there. Check out some of the wonderful pieces I saw:
Pieces from the Emigre collection at The Letterform Archive in San Francisco.
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Dear Graphic Means Supporters, You have been waiting patiently for Graphic Means, and naturally, we are excited to get it out to you. In recent months, we’ve screened the film at 3 different conferences (TypeCon, AtypI, and Creative Works) and collected feedback to help us make it the best film possible. The response has been encouraging and exciting to say the least! I wanted to let you know that while we aimed to release the film at the end of this year, we’ve identified one aspect of the film that needs a little more refinement, so we are headed in the first week of December to Germany to interview design greats Gunter Rambow and Bernard Stein. It will be worth the wait. We promise! |
Gunter Rambow, 1978 and 1979
Gunter Rambow, 1978 and 1979
Meanwhile, here in Portland, Oregon, Emily Skaer is working hard on motion graphics, and I am working on logistics around the release of the film.
Don’t forget to get your archival graphic design fixes on Instagram and Facebook in the meantime.
Thanks to you all for your continued support and patience.
Signed,
Your faithful director + producer—Briar Levit
I've now been back from Poland for a week, and I'm still missing my daily dose of pierogi.
I'm a proper Slavophile, so I was in heaven with the Polish cuisine.
I had a great time sharing a slightly newer cut of the film to the International audience at the conference. Getting the chance throughout the conference to speak with designers who either lived through the type era, or student designers who knew nothing of it was incredibly helpful.
I discovered that a little bit of content should be removed, and perhaps included as a DVD extra, and that a European voice was missing in the narrative. What does that mean? (Un)fortunately, another trip for me and director of photography, Dawn Jones Redstone. More details as they emerge.
So what does this mean for the release of Graphic Means? It means we will probably push back to early 2017. It was a hard decision, but I think making the best film is what is most important. So, as usual, stay tuned for important dates.
Finally, at the last minute, I was asked to speak at the Creative Works Conference in Memphis, TN. Come say 'hi' if you'll be there too!
I got to meet my fellow Alphabette, Indra Kupferschmid!
Hi everyone!
I'm just back from TypeCon in Seattle, where I screened a rough cut of Graphic Means, and gave a brief talk on the democratization of typesetting in the 60s and 70s. I also got the chance to meet with a number of people I've admired online for some time. What a great conference!
I'm now armed with some fantastic feedback and will return to editing and working on the motion design bits for the film. Then, in just a few weeks, I'm headed to Warsaw, Poland for AtypI, where I will do one more work-in-progress screening. If you are going as well, please say "hi"!
For those wondering about a release date—stay tuned. It will be this Winter, but no exact date yet.
I'm also working with type designer, Riley Cran, on some fun merchandise, which I hope to announce in my next update.
In the meantime, follow along online for regular graphic tidbits
Twitter: @graphic_means
Instagram: @graphicmeans
Facebook: @graphicmeans
Industrious button makers!
Some great buttons made with dry transfer lettering that was originally intended for use on transparencies for an overhead projector!
We've just returned from the East Coast where we did our final interviews for Graphic Means (Steven Heller, Lucille Tenezas, Ilene Strizver, and Gerard Huerta). We also had the chance to film at the Herb Lubalin Study Center, and at the Museum of Printing. We can't wait to get this footage into the film!
Director Briar Levit, with designer and educator, Lucille Tenazas.
Steven Heller, ready for his next question.
Design Week put this question to a number of designers, including me. I wrote about Lyubov Popova and Varvara Stepanova. Check out the article to see more!
Varvara Stepanova and Lyubov Popova
Great news! I'm excited to share with you, that we are fully funded for Graphic Means! Adobe Typekit has generously sponsored the film at $25k. PLUS, I have received a Portland State University Faculty Enhancement Grant for $15k! This funding will go to editing, color correction, music, audio mastering, a few more interviews, and other details necessary to make a feature film.
I am so happy to be able to just focus on making the film now, and not fundraising. Phew!
I had a great time talking to Barbara Majsa at Hype and Hyper.
I had a nice interview with Yoshini Gunawardena of Roger That agency. Check it out!
Check out the profile here!
Watch the segment here!
