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Mad Men and typography

Though I can’t seem to convert my friends onto the show, I’m a big fan of Mad Men. I love the tone of the show, the calm, cool narratives and the smoky, politically-incorrect dynamic of the office.

Having said that, they mess up the typography a lot. Mark Simonson has a great little article outlining some of the inconsistencies and anachronisms in the production design of the show. To wit:

What’s Lucida Handwriting (1992) doing in [the credits]? I usually consider the titles to be outside the world of the story, but considering all the period cues in these titles, this typeface, which was designed specifically for computer screens, is out of place.

Even if you’re not an expert on typography, you can sense when things are off.

You’d think for a rumored $2.3 million per episode they could bring someone on to verify the little details. Especially when the show is set in the design world of Madison Avenue.

Thanks to Erin Laing for the heads up.

Also of interest
(Amazon) Mad Men Season One on DVD
(Amazon) Mad Men Season Two on DVD

  • http://wardomatic.blogspot.com/ Ward

    Thanks for posting this, Matt. I was going to do it if no one else had! I love Mark’s attention to detail. If anyone digs this, you should also check out his entire Typcasting series. He also checks in on the map sequences for all the Indiana Jones movies.

  • http://wardomatic.blogspot.com Ward

    Thanks for posting this, Matt. I was going to do it if no one else had! I love Mark’s attention to detail. If anyone digs this, you should also check out his entire Typcasting series. He also checks in on the map sequences for all the Indiana Jones movies.