Linotype has gone from a crazy, wonderful typesetting contraption used by everyone in publishing to an obsolete remnant of the industrial age, to a monument to ingenuity, to a feature-length documentary shown on the big screen—and, now, a DVD to be released on Oct. 16.
Bring the machine into your own home.
The greatness that was once this clanky collection of gears and pulleys is preserved in Linotype: The Film, directed by Doug Wilson. Called the Eighth Wonder of the World by Thomas Edison, it revolutionized printing and society. Wilson’s ode to machinery tells the surprisingly emotional story of the people connected to the Linotype and how it impacted the world.
Read more about the film here or watch the official trailer on Vimeo here or YouTube here.
Watching (or back to) the wreckage of an old Linotype.
For more Steven Heller, check out Design Literacy: Understanding Graphic Design, one of the many Heller titles available at MyDesignShop.com.