The documentaries that bring typography to the screen, from Helvetica to Linotype machines, and show the people and workshops behind the letters.
Helvetica
Director: Gary Hustwit.
Date: 2007.
A documentary about Helvetica, made for its fiftieth anniversary, featuring leading designers such as Massimo Vignelli, Wim Crouwel, Erik Spiekermann and Paula Scher.
It is the most famous typography documentary, and it brought the subject to the general public. It forms a design trilogy with Objectified and Urbanized.
Linotype: The Film
Director: Doug Wilson.
Date: 2012.
The story of the Linotype, the machine that revolutionised printing and newspapers, told through those who used it and those who still keep it running.
It brings a vanished technology and the world of print shops back to life, with great emotion.
Typeface
Director: Justine Nagan.
Date: 2009.
A documentary filmed at the Hamilton Wood Type and Printing Museum in Wisconsin, about wood type and the artists who bring it back to life.
It shows the link between traditional craft and contemporary creation, through a museum unique in the world.
Graphic Means
Director: Briar Levit.
Date: 2017.
The history of graphic production between the 1950s and the arrival of the computer: phototypesetting, transfer lettering and hand-pasted layouts.
It documents an often forgotten period, between lead type and desktop publishing, and pays tribute to the trades that disappeared with it.
Abstract: The Art of Design
Director: Series produced for Netflix.
Date: 2017.
A documentary series about leading designers, including an episode on graphic designer Paula Scher, a partner at Pentagram.
The episode on Paula Scher shows the role of typography in major visual identities, in a way that is accessible to everyone.
Pressing On: The Letterpress Film
Directors: Erin Beckloff and Andrew P. Quinn.
Date: 2017.
A documentary about the enthusiasts who preserve and still practise letterpress printing with metal type.
It shows why letterpress is enjoying a revival in the digital age, and what makes this craft so precious.