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April 27, 2008

Vancouver: City of Literature, presidential typography,

Posted by ron at 11:20 AM ET

A group of Vancouver's literati is gunning to get that city the honour of UNESCO World City of Literature. Mmmm, nice try Vancouver. While we love you and your pretty mountains and plentiful trees, not to mention excellent sushi, we don't really think you're the most literary city in Canada. We'll let Montreal and Toronto fight it out for that honour. Also, do you think you'll stand a chance against Amsterdam?

Excuse us while we geek out on typefaces. A couple of weeks back, The LA Times looked at the typefaces of the U.S. presidential candidates. Ever wonder why those Obama signs looked so good? Blame it on Gotham, the typeface. The makers of the nerdilicious film Helvetica talk about Obama's type. The New York Times dissects McCain's choice of typeface (Optima, if you were wondering).

Apparently it's eerily appropriate. Here's designer Michael Bierut on the font:

When I saw John McCain's Optima, the first thing I thought was that it's the same font used for the carving of all the names on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. Maybe this is a coincidence, but even if so, it's certainly very apropos.

And now, a pair of affable Scottish guys playing "Blitzkrieg Bop" on the ukulele:

More entries on: Weekend Links

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Reader comments:

Ah the effortless obnoxiousness of Torontonians when it comes to culture in Canada. Alma Lee is heading up the effort to have Vancouver named as the World City of Literature. She has a reputation for being formidable. And if by "we" you mean "you", Ron, then you may wish to read up on the literary goings-on of Vancouver (and the Prairies and Atlantic Canada, while you are at it).

Posted by: lms at April 28, 2008 02:50 AM

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