… knowing full well that some of the people they handed it to were journalists who would blog about it, as I did here on my work blog. I give this stunt an ‘A’ for effort.

I enjoy the show “Mad Men” (though I’ve missed the last few episodes, so no spoilers please). One thing that’s intriguing about the show is its attention to detail, with sets meticulously reconstructed to resemble offices and homes in 1960s New York. Every hair is in place.

But Andrew Hearst on the Panopticist blog has noticed that the wheels fall off during the ending credits – which are set in Arial! He does a better job than I can explaining why this is a crime against art:

“This is obviously a small detail. But Mad Men is a show that matches small details as well as any series that’s ever been on the air. Why does such a pitch-perfect show end with such a jarring anachronism?”

Come to think of it, the ending credits of most good shows are usually boring and slap-dash. I wonder why?

This video is kind of silly, but I feel compelled to link to it.

What do you think of the new Walmart logo?

This new logo accomplishes the impossible: It makes the old Wal-Mart logo look good!

It already looks dated and generic. People had the same complaint about the new Payless logo in 2006. Our creative director at work compared it to the Parmalat logo, but I think the Parmalat logo is better.

(Image from Walmartstores.com)

My friend Jason Fagone has the lead story on Slate today: YouType: The strange allure of making your own fonts. (Fagone was one of our resident font experts at The Daily Collegian in the late 1990s.)

Earlier this week, I was changing trains at the Chambers Street station (which is being renovated) and was shocked to see this brand new sign:

What th’—?!

You occasionally spot a really old MTA sign that has black lettering on white type (I think there are some tucked away in the vast Times Square station), but it’s rare. Practically all New York subway signs have a uniform design, and the type is always white on black. The signs look like this:

If you’re unfamiliar with our subway system, you’re probably thinking, “So what?” But these familiar details matter, and when something’s a little off, we want to know why.

Also, these signs are legendary in the design world. The signage scheme was created in 1966 by graphic designer Massimo Vignelli, using the font Akzidenz-Grotesk (a variation of Helvetica introduced to the subway system in 1958). According to Vignelli’s web site, he had originally intended the signs to be white with black lettering, but “To discourage graffiti, the surface was later changed from white to black.”

So… Why the sudden change back?

On Sunday I went and saw this summer’s first mandatory movie, Iron Man. It’s pretty good. The protagonist is the CEO of a defense contractor called Stark Industries. Here’s what his company’s logo looks like:

Seem familiar? It did to me. That’s because it combines elements of the Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman logos.

(Stark logo via Screen Rant, Lockheed and Northrop logos from those companies’ Web sites. And nautrally, I’m not the first person on the Internet to notice this.)

Okay defense contractor people, who among you is building an Iron Man?

Is there an award for Best Use of Typography in a Music Video? If so, it should go to R.E.M.’s “Hollow Man” video.

- How deliciously crisp is that font on the Obama signs? It’s called Gotham, and it was first commissioned for GQ magazine. Designers Tobias Frere-Jones and Jonathan Hoefler were inspired by the lettering on the Port Authority bus terminal. Here’s a short video about Gotham.

- When Barack Obama gave his “A More Perfect Union” speech a week ago, I decided not to write anything about it. Enough had been said already, plus I was still digesting it. It was a really important speech that set a new standard for how informed, concerned Americans should talk about race relations. But as time passes, it doesn’t seem especially historic. I doubt it will help Obama become president. As we’re seeing, the final leg of the Democratic primary process is more about delegate wrangling than about any serious policy disagreements.

- PDNPulse: President Clinton And Rev. Wright

- The Onion: Black Guy Asks Nation For Change.

(Photo above by the Obama campaign.)