In October we began planning out the complete redevelopment of the Korsakow System, a software application for creating database narratives. Korsakow was originally created by Florian Thalhofer in 2000. The timelapse video, above, shows Florian hard at work in the CINERG office in downtown Montréal, creating an elaborate paper prototype of the new version. Reprogramming began in mid-November; we hope to have a new version ready to launch in Spring 2009.

Helvetica premiered at SXSW and is selling out wherever it plays; it’s also receiving rave reviews.

As part of the forthcoming Logo Cities Symposium, we’ve secured the Québec premiere of Gary Hustwit’s new documentary Helvetica. And Gary will be there too. Yay.

The first phase of the Logo Cities project is nearing completion. The interface, above, features four different, panoramic views of the city of Montreal. These can be viewed as they appear at night or during the day. Clicking on a prominent logo on the skyline brings up some basic information about that sign, and, ultimately, a short contextual commentary. Due for an initial launch at www.logocities.org in late May.

(Readers who have arrived here via an article in Concordia’s Thursday Report should note that, alas, I am an assistant professor of communication studies, not an associate professor.)

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The Image Bank
(Rights-managed)

Canada, Quebec, Montreal skyline, dusk, winter, elevated view

The way each of us relates to cities depends, to some degree, on the familiar (or not so familiar) skylines that greet us when we arrive via road, rail or air. Although these urban skylines are usually described by an orchestrated jumble of high-rise buildings, another key component – especially at night – is the gallery of illuminated logos, brandnames and trademarks that mark off key institutions and entities. In combination, these graphic symbols can be as particular to one city as the silhouette of an especially expressive building (the Gateway Arch in St Louis; Toronto’s CN Tower).

The image, above, was drawn, without coaxing, by my seven-year old daughter. (What you can’t tell from the picture alone is that she adopted a purposely naive, storybook tone in order to fill in the pages of her new Hello Kitty notebook.) This particular page is a rendering of our adopted home, Montreal. For her, the CBC tower is emblematic of the city: something uniquely Canadian and familiar (we drive by it often enough; some of her favorite shows are also on the CBC). I’m intrigued by the fact that she didn’t attempt to draw the ubiquitous CBC logo that is actually to be found on the tower – and all over the TV. The logo was designed in 1974 by Burton Kramer.

My current project involves exploring Montreal from this graphic perspective, from the huge illuminated crucifix on the Mountain to the old Farine Five Roses sign down by the river. The first objective is to log as many of these signs as possible and to provide some historical background in terms of graphic design/public signage, as opposed to ‘pure’ architecture. More soon.

…for website development. Stuart is hard at work doing the database programming for a new site all about product placement; I’m coordinating the assembly of some archival materials for an educational site dedicated to one particular 1950s typeface; and, the logo project is slowly sparking into life, with a visual inventory of Montreal’s skylines and high-rise logos due for launch in the Spring. Meanwhile, the weblog continues to suffer from mild neglect.

This is Dorval (aka Trudeau) Airport in Montreal at about midday on Thursday 14th October. Due to a strike that involved blocking all the access roads, I actually had to abandon my taxi ride and walk all the way into the airport. I felt like the guy in the movie 28 Days Later, or even Tom Cruise’s character in the opening sequence of Vanilla Sky. Very strange.

(The strikers said they didn’t mind me crossing the picket line.)

Answers to the logo quiz are below. (The full poster is here.)

Fido (Rogers Communications – tbc) – CanWest News Service – TIME Magazine (Time Warner) – GE – Reuters – ESPN (Disney 80%; Hearst 20%) – AT&T – New York Times – AOL (Time Warner) – Nickelodeon (VIACOM) – VIACOM – Lifetime (Hearst) – Microsoft – Internet Explorer (Microsoft) – Discovery Channel (Liberty Media; Advance Publications; Cox; Bell Globemedia – Canada) – A&E (Disney; Hearst; GE) – Disney – Entourage (Microsoft) – MTV (VIACOM) – HBO (Time Warner) – CNN (Time Warner) – Bertelsmann – Associated Press – CBC – Yahoo! – Globe and Mail (Bell Globemedia) – Adobe – SONY – CanWest Global Communications – Channel 4 [UK].

My research on the typeface Mistral, its designer Roger Excoffon, and Mistral’s multiple appearances throughout the city of Montreal, continues. And the gallery of examples is steadily growing. I’m just about ready to have a crack at actually writing about it. That said, any and all fresh information on Excoffon or Mistral gratefully received…