Indiana University Press blog

My type of documentary

I admit it: I'm a graphic design geek. I annoy my family and friends by pointing out the fonts used on billboards, book jackets, the opening credits to a movie...you name it. I can't help it. Ever since I started designing, words have become objects to me. First I notice the typeface they are set in, then I actually read them. So when my friend at the local PBS station told me about a new documentary airing tonight called Helvetica, I immediately set my DVR.

My first graphic design professor hated Helvetica and told us never to use it. Not wanting to offend his aesthetic sensibilities (and also so I could get an A in the class), I never incorporated it into any of my design projects. His bias against Helvetica infiltrated my professional life as well. Unlike my former professor, I don't have a personal problem with Helvetica. (It's certainly not as ugly or offensive to me as Comic Sans!) But since he ingrained it in me not to use it, I never consider selecting it for any pieces I design. Am I a victim of anti-Helvetica brainwashing? Maybe tonight's documentary will give me more appreciation for the font! Tune in to Helvetica tonight at 10 pm on PBS (check local listings here).

Tune into a documentary on George Taliaferro

A documentary about Indiana University football star George Taliaferro will air tonight on WTIU (Channel 30, Bloomington, IN) at 8 pm. "Indiana Legends: George Taliaferro" is the remarkable story of a man whose talent, courage and determination helped him smash racial barriers to become the first African American drafted by the National Football League. Taliaferro is the subject of the IU Press biography Taliaferro: Breaking Barriers from the NFL Draft to the Ivory Tower by Dawn Knight.

Natural Heritage of Indiana documentary premieres this Sunday

The National Geological Survey will present a free screening of the re-mastered first episode of The Natural Heritage of Indiana miniseries at the Buskirk-Chumley Theater Sunday, Sept. 21 at 3 pm. The first episode entitled "The Indiana That Was" is one of four parts in the miniseries, which will be broadcast on Indiana and Kentucky PBS stations later this fall. The miniseries is inspired by the IU Press book of the same name, which will be available for purchase at the screening. For more information, visit the Buskirk-Chumley website.

Hank Nuwer to appear in two hazing documentaries

Hank Nuwer, author of Wrongs of Passage and The Hazing Reader, will appear in two upcoming documentaries. His first appearance is in a documentary on Hazing in America that will air on E Entertainment Network December 1 at 5 pm. Directed by John Formichella, this powerful documentary tells five hazing stories including Chad Meredith's, whose death as the result of a fraternity hazing tradition at the University of Miami inspired a tough Florida hazing law.

Next, Nuwer will appear in Haze, a documentary about the hazing death of University of Colorado student Lynn Gordon Bailey. The film, narrated by Robin Wright Penn, is scheduled for release in February 2008.