Jessica Helfand

Jessica Helfand|Essays

The Designibles

In the new Robert Zemeckis film, The Polar Express, Chris Van Allsburg's dreamy illustrations are animated by way of a new three-dimensional CGI technology called "performance capture." In this process, real actors (Tom Hanks plays most of …

Jessica Helfand|Essays

Am I Blue

Despite a moment last week when things were looking up for both graphic designers and democrats, things aren't looking too good for the Kerry campaign this morning. And while I've been quite vocal in my dismissiveness about graphic …

Jessica Helfand|Essays

The Rodneydangerfieldization of Graphic Design: Part I

Here in America, we have entered the home stretch of the campaign season. With a critical Presidential election only weeks away, the country is awash in partisan controversies, testy editorials and even testier debates, all of it fueled by …

Jessica Helfand|Essays

Gentlemen Prefer Blogs

Watching Annie Duke beat out a half-dozen male competitors in the World Poker Tournament this week, I experienced an odd case of déjà vu.

Jessica Helfand|Essays

Magazine Without a Name, Brand Without a Promise

The New York Times Business Section today reports a new elite magazine aimed at the exclusive holders of the American Express Centurion Card. The magazine itself consists of five articles, four ads, and no name or indeed, nameplate — …

Jessica Helfand|Essays

Under The Microscope

It turns out that microscopy, like most things, has basically gone digital: no surprise there. But what did surprise me was the realization that scientific observation obliges its participants to engage in a kind of resistance to …

Jessica Helfand|Essays

Ladislav Sutnar: Mechanical Beauty

Dummy of dust jacket for Arnold Zweig's The Crowning of the King, 1938. Drawing, pencil and tempera paste-up. Last spring, we spent several days in Switzerland en route to Italy — a detour which was largely unremarkable except that …

Jessica Helfand|Essays

An Instrument of Sufficiently Lucid Cogitation

The legendary French photojournalist Henri Cartier-Bresson, who died on Tuesday at his home in the South of France, always carried a sketchbook with him. Today's obituary in The New York Times alleges that he described drawing as …

Jessica Helfand|Essays

Graphic Design: The Movie

Above Left: Paul Rand, No Way Out, 1950; Right, production still from The Manchurian Candidate, 2004.Some time ago, I pondered about the future of graphic design as a reality show, but recently I've become convinced that its real future …

Jessica Helfand|Essays

Design Gone Mad

Readers of Martha Stewart Living generally fall into two categories: those who take the time to tie each canapé with a single chive, and those who don't. The first category boasts a wide range of personality types, from the …

Jessica Helfand|Essays

Ask Not What Your Typeface Can Do For You: Ask What You Can Do For Your Typeface

Photo: James Estrin / The New York TimesAn article in today's New York Times celebrates the suitably-named Gotham for its presence, etched into a 20-ton slab of Adirondack granite, in the Freedom Tower cornerstone. The choice of a …

Jessica Helfand|Essays

Take Two Logos and Call Me in the Morning