Fonts Personified.
July 22, 2008 10:19 AM Subscribe
Font Conference. A video from CollegeHumor which made me laugh more than a video from CollegeHumor really should.
Cute. As soon as I saw this I knew Wing Dings would play heavily into the punch line. I would have put him in a straight jacket though and made him a little more nuttier because that font is wack!
posted by any major dude at 10:27 AM on July 22, 2008
posted by any major dude at 10:27 AM on July 22, 2008
Waitaminute, you brought us a link where Comic goddamned Sans is the hero?
posted by lekvar at 10:32 AM on July 22, 2008 [10 favorites]
posted by lekvar at 10:32 AM on July 22, 2008 [10 favorites]
Waitaminute, you brought us a link where Comic goddamned Sans is the hero?
He is a hero. Anywhere you see Comic Sans, you know that good judgement has been defeated.
posted by Dark Messiah at 10:33 AM on July 22, 2008 [16 favorites]
He is a hero. Anywhere you see Comic Sans, you know that good judgement has been defeated.
posted by Dark Messiah at 10:33 AM on July 22, 2008 [16 favorites]
I wish there was a way to change our comment fonts, because I'd totally write "I'm in a room full of sheep" set in Century Gothic.
posted by Caduceus at 10:35 AM on July 22, 2008 [1 favorite]
posted by Caduceus at 10:35 AM on July 22, 2008 [1 favorite]
I was expecting the guy in the clown suit to be Comic Sans. Clever how they played with my expectations, that way. Very comedical.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 10:36 AM on July 22, 2008
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 10:36 AM on July 22, 2008
*Spoiler Alert* Maybe in tribute to the hero of this video, Matt can make this whole thread comic sans.
posted by drezdn at 10:36 AM on July 22, 2008
posted by drezdn at 10:36 AM on July 22, 2008
No way, Comic Sans, no way. That is high comic irony. Well done!
I wasn't all that amused either, until Wingdings made his appearance, then Comic Sans put it over the edge, in a good way.
posted by Xoebe at 10:38 AM on July 22, 2008
I wasn't all that amused either, until Wingdings made his appearance, then Comic Sans put it over the edge, in a good way.
posted by Xoebe at 10:38 AM on July 22, 2008
You ever watch a short film, where the concept is sound, the writing is clever, the acting is good, the directing is tight and the cinematography is well done, and yet at the end of the film you feel like it was just missing something?
something other than a joke about italics?
posted by davejay at 10:40 AM on July 22, 2008 [2 favorites]
something other than a joke about italics?
posted by davejay at 10:40 AM on July 22, 2008 [2 favorites]
Gotta hand it to a video/viral site making the effort/investment to produce original comment. Their bulletin board room meeting vids were great too.
posted by cavalier at 10:44 AM on July 22, 2008
posted by cavalier at 10:44 AM on July 22, 2008
Though I must say I bristled at the idea of Microsoft Helvetica wannabe Arial being a redneck -- ok, ok, I understand, all for the "narrow" zing. Zing.
posted by cavalier at 10:45 AM on July 22, 2008
posted by cavalier at 10:45 AM on July 22, 2008
I feel like I just watched a rough draft for a really hilarious sketch. Not a waste of time, though.
posted by Tomorrowful at 10:48 AM on July 22, 2008 [3 favorites]
posted by Tomorrowful at 10:48 AM on July 22, 2008 [3 favorites]
Who's the actor that plays Times New Roman? He looks familiar.
posted by chillmost at 10:48 AM on July 22, 2008
posted by chillmost at 10:48 AM on July 22, 2008
Metafilter: I'm in a room full of sheep set in Century Gothic.
posted by Mngo at 10:49 AM on July 22, 2008 [2 favorites]
posted by Mngo at 10:49 AM on July 22, 2008 [2 favorites]
Mailbox! OPEN Mailbox!! ✌
posted by not_on_display at 10:49 AM on July 22, 2008
posted by not_on_display at 10:49 AM on July 22, 2008
Mailbox! OPEN Mailbox!!
In the previous shot, "mailbox" was "please". So what is "open mailbox" supposed to mean?
posted by DU at 10:51 AM on July 22, 2008
In the previous shot, "mailbox" was "please". So what is "open mailbox" supposed to mean?
posted by DU at 10:51 AM on July 22, 2008
OPEN Mailbox means open mailbox.
Please! Open mailbox! I know it doesn't make sense but like they said neither does Wingdings.
Did I miss Verdana? I wanted to see Verdana.
posted by carsonb at 11:00 AM on July 22, 2008
Please! Open mailbox! I know it doesn't make sense but like they said neither does Wingdings.
Did I miss Verdana? I wanted to see Verdana.
posted by carsonb at 11:00 AM on July 22, 2008
Off camera, dressed in urban camouflage and and Earth Crisis t-shirt, Base 02 was repelling down the side of the building in a futile attempt to save Courier.
posted by drezdn at 11:04 AM on July 22, 2008 [1 favorite]
posted by drezdn at 11:04 AM on July 22, 2008 [1 favorite]
You ever watch a short film, where the concept is sound, the writing is clever, the acting is good, the directing is tight and the cinematography is well done, and yet at the end of the film you feel like it was just missing something?
Yeah, agreed. Good idea, OK acting, fine production. And yet... somehow unfunny.
posted by ORthey at 11:21 AM on July 22, 2008
Yeah, agreed. Good idea, OK acting, fine production. And yet... somehow unfunny.
posted by ORthey at 11:21 AM on July 22, 2008
And Consolas was there to tell us it was all going to be ok.
posted by blue_beetle at 11:26 AM on July 22, 2008
posted by blue_beetle at 11:26 AM on July 22, 2008
μ
posted by fantabulous timewaster at 11:38 AM on July 22, 2008
posted by fantabulous timewaster at 11:38 AM on July 22, 2008
In the previous shot, "mailbox" was "please". So what is "open mailbox" supposed to mean?
Mailbox, like Shalom or Aloha, can tie up many concepts succinctly. So in the first case, it means "please," pointing more to, "send it to me" and in the next, it's meant as, "awesome show, great job," meaning, "received!" OPEN Mailbox is the superlative, meaning, "FTW," pointing toward, "I have the mail in my hand, and am excited to read it."
✌ (the peace sign) is usually taken to signify that one is overthinking a plate of beans.
posted by not_on_display at 11:44 AM on July 22, 2008 [1 favorite]
Mailbox, like Shalom or Aloha, can tie up many concepts succinctly. So in the first case, it means "please," pointing more to, "send it to me" and in the next, it's meant as, "awesome show, great job," meaning, "received!" OPEN Mailbox is the superlative, meaning, "FTW," pointing toward, "I have the mail in my hand, and am excited to read it."
✌ (the peace sign) is usually taken to signify that one is overthinking a plate of beans.
posted by not_on_display at 11:44 AM on July 22, 2008 [1 favorite]
Meh.
posted by ChickenringNYC at 11:56 AM on July 22, 2008
posted by ChickenringNYC at 11:56 AM on July 22, 2008
I actually thought the Internet Commenter Funeral clip - the third installment of the Internet Commenter series, which I didn't know was out - was better than this one.
So, thanks for that!
posted by yhbc at 11:56 AM on July 22, 2008 [1 favorite]
So, thanks for that!
posted by yhbc at 11:56 AM on July 22, 2008 [1 favorite]
Heck, Where the Hell is Matt's Girlfriend? is pretty good, too, and it really should have been included in this earlier thread. Which is still open, so I might as well put it there too.
posted by yhbc at 12:06 PM on July 22, 2008
posted by yhbc at 12:06 PM on July 22, 2008
I laugh, I cried, I set it in Mistral.
posted by seanmpuckett at 12:08 PM on July 22, 2008
posted by seanmpuckett at 12:08 PM on July 22, 2008
one is overthinking a plate of beans
If they hadn't presented any translations at all, I would agree. But they explicitly TOLD us that "mailbox" means "please". Then, out of the literally thousands of English words available, they used "mailbox" again. That's either meaningful or stupid.
Based on the rest of the video, I'm guessing the latter.
posted by DU at 12:18 PM on July 22, 2008
If they hadn't presented any translations at all, I would agree. But they explicitly TOLD us that "mailbox" means "please". Then, out of the literally thousands of English words available, they used "mailbox" again. That's either meaningful or stupid.
Based on the rest of the video, I'm guessing the latter.
posted by DU at 12:18 PM on July 22, 2008
What the video does not show is that the special guest and entertainment for Font Conference 08 was Towa Tei and Kylie Minogue.
posted by kkokkodalk at 12:24 PM on July 22, 2008
posted by kkokkodalk at 12:24 PM on July 22, 2008
Comic Sans pronounced like "Comic Sands" is probably the most painful thing I have listened to in a long time.
posted by tehloki at 12:31 PM on July 22, 2008
posted by tehloki at 12:31 PM on July 22, 2008
That's either meaningful or stupid. Based on the rest of the video, I'm guessing the latter.
It's meaningful, on so many Joycean-like levels.
...he said on a MeFi comment thread.
posted by not_on_display at 12:38 PM on July 22, 2008
It's meaningful, on so many Joycean-like levels.
...he said on a MeFi comment thread.
posted by not_on_display at 12:38 PM on July 22, 2008
Why does the guy who pops in on the video screen look like uburoivas?
posted by Liosliath at 12:55 PM on July 22, 2008
posted by Liosliath at 12:55 PM on July 22, 2008
CollegeHumor's shining beacon of comedic light is definitely the Michael Showalter Showalter.
posted by adamms222 at 12:56 PM on July 22, 2008
posted by adamms222 at 12:56 PM on July 22, 2008
Comic Sans can't help it. The disease in inside him.
posted by cyclopticgaze at 1:08 PM on July 22, 2008 [2 favorites]
posted by cyclopticgaze at 1:08 PM on July 22, 2008 [2 favorites]
without getting into the quality of this video, I'm going to derail the thread by pointing out that anyone who is ashamed of likeing collegehumor has either forgotten or is ignorant of the fact that collegehumor first aired the Stella Shorts that were so much funnier than the Stella TV Show.
posted by shmegegge at 1:15 PM on July 22, 2008
posted by shmegegge at 1:15 PM on July 22, 2008
That made me laugh exactly as much as a collegehumor link should
posted by bonaldi at 1:18 PM on July 22, 2008
posted by bonaldi at 1:18 PM on July 22, 2008
Okay. That was hilarious, even IF ComicFuckingSans saves the day. Futura was a good gag.
posted by Thorzdad at 1:19 PM on July 22, 2008
posted by Thorzdad at 1:19 PM on July 22, 2008
I am annoyed. I believe they just used music without crediting.
posted by zabuni at 1:24 PM on July 22, 2008
posted by zabuni at 1:24 PM on July 22, 2008
I personally enjoyed the bickering between Baskerville Old Face and Bookman Old Style. Back when I was a four point, fonts were fonts!
posted by grapefruitmoon at 1:32 PM on July 22, 2008 [2 favorites]
posted by grapefruitmoon at 1:32 PM on July 22, 2008 [2 favorites]
I'm ignorant of both the Stella Shorts and the Stella TV Show, so, I guess, guilty on all counts.
posted by jacquilynne at 2:32 PM on July 22, 2008
posted by jacquilynne at 2:32 PM on July 22, 2008
you may have to add
0.0.0.0 iacas.adbureau.net
to your hosts file to get the page to load. This ad server seems to be borked.
posted by xorry at 2:45 PM on July 22, 2008
0.0.0.0 iacas.adbureau.net
to your hosts file to get the page to load. This ad server seems to be borked.
posted by xorry at 2:45 PM on July 22, 2008
Too literal, and just pays on the names of the fonts, not the actual fonts.
posted by signal at 2:56 PM on July 22, 2008
posted by signal at 2:56 PM on July 22, 2008
Good premise, well executed, but in the effort to make quick, punchy jokes, some of the stereotypical typefaces were "Meh". Yes, I've always been defensive over Bookman but if it had to be one of the two OLD guys, Baskerville should've had the beard and Bookman been clean shaven. When I saw the clown wig in the back row at the beginning, I immediately thought he'd be ComicSans, which made "ComicSans saves the day" a bigger surprise and a bigger laugh.
Still, they could've included Aardvark Bold, (Jessica) Alba, (Steve Jobs as) Apple Garamond, Beesknees, (Garfield as) Cooper Black, Copperplate, Eurostile (maybe instead of French Script), (Scarlet O'hara as) Georgia, Gill Sans, (Curt) Goudy, Hobo, New Century Schoolbook (in schoolboy uniform), Optima, Palatino (good name for a Spaghetti Western Cowboy), Playbill (sitting with Broadway), (Norman) Rockwell, Tahoma (a Native American), Terminal (robot, duh), Trajan, Trebuchet, Verdana (a Venice gondolier) and Zapf Humanist.
Maybe at next year's Font Conference.
posted by wendell at 3:26 PM on July 22, 2008 [2 favorites]
Still, they could've included Aardvark Bold, (Jessica) Alba, (Steve Jobs as) Apple Garamond, Beesknees, (Garfield as) Cooper Black, Copperplate, Eurostile (maybe instead of French Script), (Scarlet O'hara as) Georgia, Gill Sans, (Curt) Goudy, Hobo, New Century Schoolbook (in schoolboy uniform), Optima, Palatino (good name for a Spaghetti Western Cowboy), Playbill (sitting with Broadway), (Norman) Rockwell, Tahoma (a Native American), Terminal (robot, duh), Trajan, Trebuchet, Verdana (a Venice gondolier) and Zapf Humanist.
Maybe at next year's Font Conference.
posted by wendell at 3:26 PM on July 22, 2008 [2 favorites]
Pretty well done. Times New Roman was a lousy actor, though.
I wasn't all that amused either, until Wingdings made his appearance, then Comic Sans put it over the edge, in a good way.
I agree, although I saw some potential when Futura made her appearance. Up until then I was just admiring the production values more than the content.
posted by spock at 3:28 PM on July 22, 2008
I wasn't all that amused either, until Wingdings made his appearance, then Comic Sans put it over the edge, in a good way.
I agree, although I saw some potential when Futura made her appearance. Up until then I was just admiring the production values more than the content.
posted by spock at 3:28 PM on July 22, 2008
It just kept getting frutiger and frutiger.
posted by kirkaracha at 3:38 PM on July 22, 2008 [1 favorite]
posted by kirkaracha at 3:38 PM on July 22, 2008 [1 favorite]
I liked it even though it played off of names instead of reputations. I think it'd be cool to see one made by/for people who have opinions about specific fonts.
Helvetica would be a Barack Obama-style public darling.
posted by Solon and Thanks at 3:41 PM on July 22, 2008
Helvetica would be a Barack Obama-style public darling.
posted by Solon and Thanks at 3:41 PM on July 22, 2008
Gill admired his wife’s Silica breast implants and said, “Mrs Eaves, give me a Kis.”
“Hey,” she said, “my name is Joanna, you Nimrod.”
“That’s your name? Doesn’t ring a Bell.”
From where she sat on her covered Verdana, Joanna had a Clearview of the Flora growing around her. She had forgotten how to appreciate Aldus beauty. She thought about the Stone Sans of the beach where she and Gill wed, and sighed as she had done Myriad times before. “You haven’t been the same since you Fraktur-ed your skull.”
“Nofret, my pet,” he said. “Thanks to my resilient Esprit and our Castellar love Fournier-ch other, my recovery will be Swift. Abadi go inside and watch The Dick Van Dijck Show?”
When Gill had his Akzidenz Grotesk, Joanna used her Clairvaux-yant powers to look beyond the Univers and into the Futura. What she saw Skia-ed her terribly. He was doomed to soon go off the Deepdene once and for all, to remain in a Perpetua state of insanity, and to die a few months later.
He was wistfully looking at a photo Walbaum when she told him of this sad Prospect. He became Pouty and Bello-ed, “You mean I won’t even live to be Olduvai want?” She said no, so he promptly Rotis last will and testament. “Sabon,” he said, remembering his French, and resolved from then on to live only for Today.
posted by tepidmonkey at 6:28 PM on July 22, 2008 [2 favorites]
“Hey,” she said, “my name is Joanna, you Nimrod.”
“That’s your name? Doesn’t ring a Bell.”
From where she sat on her covered Verdana, Joanna had a Clearview of the Flora growing around her. She had forgotten how to appreciate Aldus beauty. She thought about the Stone Sans of the beach where she and Gill wed, and sighed as she had done Myriad times before. “You haven’t been the same since you Fraktur-ed your skull.”
“Nofret, my pet,” he said. “Thanks to my resilient Esprit and our Castellar love Fournier-ch other, my recovery will be Swift. Abadi go inside and watch The Dick Van Dijck Show?”
When Gill had his Akzidenz Grotesk, Joanna used her Clairvaux-yant powers to look beyond the Univers and into the Futura. What she saw Skia-ed her terribly. He was doomed to soon go off the Deepdene once and for all, to remain in a Perpetua state of insanity, and to die a few months later.
He was wistfully looking at a photo Walbaum when she told him of this sad Prospect. He became Pouty and Bello-ed, “You mean I won’t even live to be Olduvai want?” She said no, so he promptly Rotis last will and testament. “Sabon,” he said, remembering his French, and resolved from then on to live only for Today.
posted by tepidmonkey at 6:28 PM on July 22, 2008 [2 favorites]
OK, it's very very rare for me to be able to say that I *literally* LOLd. Occasionally there's an internal chuckle and more often than not just a rueful smile.
I laughed.
posted by Stewriffic at 6:44 PM on July 22, 2008
I laughed.
posted by Stewriffic at 6:44 PM on July 22, 2008
If they hadn't presented any translations at all, I would agree. But they explicitly TOLD us that "mailbox" means "please". Then, out of the literally thousands of English words available, they used "mailbox" again. That's either meaningful or stupid.
Based on the rest of the video, I'm guessing the latter.
Yeah, that was a dumb oversight. And I'm guessing one of them pointed that out too and it was met with "lighten up, man, it's just a joke", which frankly, behind the scenes, is a killer of comedy. Still, a solid C+.
posted by Durn Bronzefist at 8:00 PM on July 22, 2008
Based on the rest of the video, I'm guessing the latter.
Yeah, that was a dumb oversight. And I'm guessing one of them pointed that out too and it was met with "lighten up, man, it's just a joke", which frankly, behind the scenes, is a killer of comedy. Still, a solid C+.
posted by Durn Bronzefist at 8:00 PM on July 22, 2008
Oh wow. I think the guy playing Times New Roman is Shannon McCormick of Backpack Picnic. It would make sense, actually, 'cause when you go to view their videos on ON Networks' site, CollegeHumor's videos are on the next tab—maybe they struck up a collaboration somehow through that. Anyone know whether the Backpack Picnic crew has anything to do with CollegeHumor's new videos?
posted by limeonaire at 11:49 PM on July 22, 2008
posted by limeonaire at 11:49 PM on July 22, 2008
If they hadn't presented any translations at all, I would agree. But they explicitly TOLD us that "mailbox" means "please". Then, out of the literally thousands of English words available, they used "mailbox" again. That's either meaningful or stupid.
Open your favorite word processor and switch to wingdings. Press comma. That's "mailbox." Press period. That's "open mailbox". They're two separate symbols (words) which may have completely different meanings, it just happens that the romanticized versions of those symbols contain a common word.
posted by reishus at 6:51 AM on July 23, 2008
Open your favorite word processor and switch to wingdings. Press comma. That's "mailbox." Press period. That's "open mailbox". They're two separate symbols (words) which may have completely different meanings, it just happens that the romanticized versions of those symbols contain a common word.
posted by reishus at 6:51 AM on July 23, 2008
M-x wingdings-mode [No match]
posted by fantabulous timewaster at 7:39 AM on July 23, 2008
posted by fantabulous timewaster at 7:39 AM on July 23, 2008
I'm ignorant of both the Stella Shorts and the Stella TV Show, so, I guess, guilty on all counts.
You don't know what you're missing. They're hard to find online these days, but Stella was three of the members from 90s MTV sketch comedy show The State (my favorite sketch show ever) doing their own weird thing on collegehumor. Michael Showalter, whose show The Michael Showalter Showalter runs on collegehumor as well, was one of them, as well as David Wain and Michael Ian Black.
The other members of the State went on to do Reno 911.
posted by shmegegge at 9:02 AM on July 23, 2008
You don't know what you're missing. They're hard to find online these days, but Stella was three of the members from 90s MTV sketch comedy show The State (my favorite sketch show ever) doing their own weird thing on collegehumor. Michael Showalter, whose show The Michael Showalter Showalter runs on collegehumor as well, was one of them, as well as David Wain and Michael Ian Black.
The other members of the State went on to do Reno 911.
posted by shmegegge at 9:02 AM on July 23, 2008
Further to schmegegge's posts, collegehumor still hosts (most of) the old Stella shorts here.
posted by adamms222 at 12:19 PM on July 23, 2008
posted by adamms222 at 12:19 PM on July 23, 2008
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posted by bookwo3107 at 10:25 AM on July 22, 2008