Paris One Forty: Week Five

French handwriting hasn’t changed since the days of Marie Antoinette. It’s like lace filagree, a loopy visual patois. pic.twitter.com/w6V9GhdccM

— Jessica Helfand (@ParisOneForty) September 16, 2014

Unchanged since their inception in the 1930s. Blessedly, babies will always have fat legs. And in Paris: these shoes. pic.twitter.com/JGjKwXgxNQ

— Jessica Helfand (@ParisOneForty) September 17, 2014

Here in Père Lachaise, one unfortunately-named family will nevertheless always be remembered — immortalized in stone. pic.twitter.com/jyu95sdlZY

— Jessica Helfand (@ParisOneForty) September 18, 2014

Although probably organized alphabetically, “philosophy” next to “photography” seems an intentionally French conceit. pic.twitter.com/Kc8zXJDCFW

— Jessica Helfand (@ParisOneForty) September 19, 2014

A home, and a restaurant for the aged. If you must get older (and who among us does not?) then this is the way to go. pic.twitter.com/WOSuHseYfj

— Jessica Helfand (@ParisOneForty) September 20, 2014

Passage Jouffroy, which opened in 1847, was home to this once-famous milliner — who specialized in silk hats for men. pic.twitter.com/mqBZXciNyB

— Jessica Helfand (@ParisOneForty) September 21, 2014

If ever there was ever a moment for italics, it’s at a train station: here, at the Gare du Nord — type imitates life. pic.twitter.com/BrO855zvXc

— Jessica Helfand (@ParisOneForty) September 22, 2014

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By Jessica Helfand

Jessica Helfand, a founding editor of Design Observer, is an award-winning graphic designer and writer and a former contributing editor and columnist for Print, Communications Arts and Eye magazines. A member of the Alliance Graphique Internationale and a recent laureate of the Art Director’s Hall of Fame, Helfand received her B.A. and her M.F.A. from Yale University where she has taught since 1994.