On Tuesday, the trailer for Typeface was vaulted to the front page of YouTube thanks to one of the film's fans (read more about it here). Since this was a new experience for the film, we thought we'd share the stats on the impact this immediately had on our site traffic and sales, and also some thoughts on what it was like to have a mini-breakout into the mainstream away from the design, typography and letterpress community that has been such a huge supporter of the film from the start.

~ Before yesterday, the video only had a humble 1,679 views. In a single day, it became our YouTube channel's most watched video ever with 51,357 views (according to YouTube's analytics). It is still gaining large amounts of views today, though not at that pace. A number of our other films also received above average daily views as a result.

~ With those viewers came comments: from 0 to 50 in a single day (not counting obvious spam). Interestingly, the majority of these comments are from people who seem to have no discernible interest in the film's subject matter (or were even aware that there was a film) and so some of the comments were negative. A debate even seemed to break out between typography fans and casual viewers over the very validity of the project. This was new thing for Typeface, which has benefited previously from finding an adoring niche audience who have done a lot of positive marketing on our behalf, such as creating their own posters or spreading the word on twitter. Added to this were the many strange videos and friend requests we suddenly received. The perils of being popular...

~ Happily, YouTube also exposed us to typography lovers who hadn't yet found us. In a single day, we saw a traffic increase of +1,042.39% to the Typeface website, and a +733% increase in visits to the DVD's page in the Kartemquin store, resulting in one of our highest-ever sales days for DVDs (all proceeds of which go to outreach funds for the film and future Kartemquin documentaries). Not bad considering the DVD has been available for pre-order since April 28th 2010, is available on iTunes and Netflix, and has already screened over 50 times around the world.

~ The best part of all this? Karen Kavett, the fan who selected us for the YouTube homepage, told us on twitter that she hasn't even seen the film yet! She will soon though; we're sending her a free copy as a thank you.

So, overall we are of course extremely pleased by the greater exposure YouTube offered our film. What has been most exciting about bringing the film to the public is that each stage of growth has been as much led by our fan base as it has by our own efforts, and the YouTube impact is just the latest example of this. In that spirit, we're trying to embrace the crowd even further by launching a page where people interested in the film can request a screening near them. Check it out and hopefully we can bring Typeface to you!

Thanks to the great taste of a young design student, for today only you can find our video "Typeface Official Trailer #2" on the YouTube homepage!

The video was chosen by Karen Kavett, a student at Rhode Island School of Design, who was selected by YouTube to curate their homepage for the day. Karen - whose own videos on typography have made a big impact with YouTube viewers - chose the Typeface trailer as part of her "Spotlight: Cool Typography" series (refresh your page if you don't see it right away).

The result has been pretty remarkable, with views for the trailer (and some of our other videos) spiking greatly and inspiring a range of comments, many from people with little previous interest in typography. For a film that has established a great connection to our core audience of designers, artists and lovers of typography and letterpress, it has been interesting to see the reaction of the casual YouTube viewer! But it's clear we've also made some new fans; happily, sales of the DVD have also spiked upwards this afternoon.

Thank you Karen for this unexpected but very welcome taste of YouTube fame!

In a recent newsletter to fans, Typeface put out the following challenge:

"Typeface is now available for download on iTunes! So head over to the iTunes store and download Typeface for your computer, iphone or ipad.  First person to send in a photo of themselves watching Typeface on a train, plane or bus from their laptop wins our Techno-Typophile award! And, for you folks who love a challenge, if you can get a photo of yourself watching Typeface on your ipad/laptop/iphone while simultaneously tweeting and using your Vandercook letterpress, we'll send you a t-shirt."

Given how the film has been so fantastically supported by our community of fans around the world, we should have known that one of you would rise to the occasion! And Arley-Rose Torsone of Penland School of Crafts was just that super Techno-Typophile we were seeking, as she sent in this photo and the following description:

"Here I am at Penland School Of Crafts when I saw your challenge to take a photo of the movie playing while printing on ye ole vandercook. Unfortunately I couldn't twitter at the same time, because I was taking the picture from my iPhone, using the hipstamatic app to imitate an old Holga.  It's pretty meta, don't you think?"

Yes, yes we do. Congratulations to Arley-Rose, Techno-Typophile and proud owner of a Typeface T-Shirt!

Want to get in on other great subscriber-only announcements and competitions? Sign-up here for the Typeface newsletter! Typeface screenings are coming up in Australia (a mini-tour!), New Zealand (twice!), California, Minnesota, Pennsylvania and Maryland. See you there or on Facebook (where we now have over 1,000 friends!) and Twitter!

Typeface is now available for pre-order on iTunes, before official release on July 27th. The film will also soon be available on Amazon VOD and Netflix. Please help us by adding the film to your queue, and don't forget to rate and review the film!

Please note that the Kartemquin Store is still the only place from which you can order the limited edition DVD featuring a poster designed by Bill Moran of Hamilton Wood Type Museum.

Here's a recent review of the film in advance of it's first screening in Yorkshire, England on July 29th in The Drum:

"Typeface, a production by Kartemquin Films, shows the reality of the digital age as it challenges master craftsmen in their environment. The film opens up a very real life portrayal of the effects, changes and fight for survival in an age of throw-away creativity.

From the onset, it shows a passion for creative skills, showcasing a place where international artists and retired craftsmen remain true to their heritage, but for how long and what can be lost? The historical and contemporary approaches in rural and urban America, combined with passion and logic makes for a fascinating film."

The Australian premiere of Typeface on July 24th in Melbourne is sold out. However, a second screening has been added by the organizers at 9:30pm that same day. Both screenings are presented by Letterbox as part of Character 6 and the 2010 State of Design Festival. The first screening will feature a conversation on the worldwide movement in reviving craft in the field of design featuring Carolyn Fraser (Idlewild Press) and David Lancashire (Lancashire Design), but the second will be a showing of the film only. Get tickets now!

The DVD of Typeface was also released on Amazon today. You can help support the film by recommending the film and writing reviews! Please note that the limited edition DVD featuring a special poster from Bill Moran of the Hamilton Wood Type Musuem is still currently only exclusively available from the Kartemquin store.

In conjunction with the popular design blog idsgn, Typeface (@typefacefilm) launched a 24 hour twitter competition yesterday aimed at spreading the love for letterpress. idsgn sent out a call for fans to tweet them back with a message stating 'Why I love letterpress' with the hashtag #iloveletterpress. The prize for the best response: a limited edition Typeface DVD!

The were some ingenious and heartfelt responses, and it was very difficult to pick a winner... but since we had to pick someone, we chose this pithy tweet for its humor and understanding of the craft:

@Marc_FIMP: #iloveletterpress because it puts real meat on the letters' bones.

@lost_found_blog #iloveletterpress b/c it makes us appreciate typography in its raw form- we often forget that as we type away on keyboards everyday.

@armina_79: #iloveletterpress because it is the right way to learn typography

@dcgglass: @idsgn #iloveletterpress bc it's so rich in history and uses all the senses: touch the type, smell the ink, hear the press,...

@ sumitpaul  #iloveletterpress because of the textures and the rich colors. Also no two letterpress prints are ever the same, they're one of a kind!

@the_junction: #iloveletterpress because it caries more meaning. You know whoever made it cared enough to kern every letter.

@alxcooper: #Iloveletterpress because... it takes too long, is bloody frustrating but we wouldn't have it any other way!

@SolvesDad: #Iloveletterpress because it puts energy on the page and makes love jump off into readers' eyes

@johnfoley: #iloveletterpress because it’s fundamentally impossible for it to be unimpressive.

@iglooletterpres #iloveletterpress because I get to use my grandad's press. The process reminds me of working with him.

You can find more entries on this trendistic chart. Thanks to all who entered and especially to idsgn!

We have opened a new store just for Typeface merchandise at Felt & Wire, the popular online curated marketplace for designer papergoods. Items for sale now include the Typeface DVD, and specially created Typeface posters designed by Dennis Ichiyama, The Post Family, Stacey Stern and Tony Zanni. Your purchases directly support ongoing outreach efforts for the film. Thank you to all the artists who have donated their work.

Check out a great Felt & Wire article on Typeface from July 2009, and buy someone a beautiful Typeface present today!

Have you visited Kartemquin's YouTube Channel yet? We now have almost 50 trailers, film clips, extra scenes and web-exclusive videos from premieres and events around our films available to view there, including our most recent upload: an inside look at the Chicago premiere of Prisoner of Her Past from April 2010. The short video was edited by former Kartemquin intern (Summer '09) Allison Pichert.

While you're on the channel, check out two other recent uploads: The first 90 seconds of Typeface, and "The most ambitious wood type in the world", an extra feature from the highly popular Typeface DVD.

Can't wait for the release of the limited edition Typeface DVD on May 28th? Well, just to tease you further we've put the first ninety seconds of the award-winning film online at our YouTube channel!

Thanks to Josh Ritter for the use of his incredibly catchy song "Mind's Eye" for this clip. His music is also throughout the film, if you're a fan.

The Typeface DVD is available now for pre-order. The first 1,000 copies of the DVD feature limited edition posters by Hamilton Wood Type Museum Artistic Director Bill Moran. All copies also feature additional scenes, a slideshow of original art inspired by the film, and some 'easter eggs.' Get yours today!

Spring has been good so far for Typeface. The films has had a run of fantastic screenings and events; director Justine Nagan has been traveling all over the country meeting some really amazing, passionate type and letterpress fans (many of whom submitted great Typeface art for the DVD extras); and pre-orders for the limited edition Typeface DVD are flying off the imaginary shelf. 

Now, this week we received three great articles about Typeface, Kartemquin and Justine Nagan. Here are a few excerpts.

"While Gary Hustwit’s Helvetica turned a font into a fascination, Justine Nagan’s documentary Typeface takes the topic of type one step further by going into the past."  -Adam Hartzell, SF360.org, a co-published website by San Francisco Film Society and indieWIRE in anticipation of the San Francisco screening May 15^th and 16^th.

"Documentary filmmaker Justine Nagan, AM’04, has been a dedicated, socially conscious film producer for years, but it was a simple craving for ice cream that led to her directorial debut film, Typeface."  - Emily Riemer, Tableau, the magazine of the Division of Humanities at the University Chicago.

"Beautifully shot and complimented by the wonderful clunky-whirly sounds of the presses in action… Endearing, sometimes heartbreaking." -Jodie, Ace Jet 170, a review from the Typeface Belfast screening.

The mailman was particularly kind to us today.  We just got a stack of letters here at Kartemquin and we're so touched by them we have to share.

The first came from Albert H., a retired printer from Connecticut, who submitted a design for our Typeface DVD Call for Art.  In his letter Mr. H wrote:

The next stack of letters came from 8students of Adler Creek Middle School in Milwaukie, Oregon, who recently watched our series The New Americans in class. They sent letters both to us and the subjects in the series.  A larger piece in the upcoming newsletter will discuss these letter at greater length, but here are a couple short excerpts we thought we'd share. 

We're so privileged to have been a part of these stories, and so happy to be able to share them with you.

After an email announcement sent out earlier today, Typeface pre-orders, poster sales and screening requests have been taking off! If you haven't yet, you may want to pre-order your limited edition collector's DVD or snag one of the remaining posters in the store. They're going fast! Also, remember that the deadline to submit your artwork for the DVD is running out - you have only until midnight on May 3rd!

Here's some of the recent twitter buzz:

kensoliva: Just pre-ordered @TypefaceFilm on DVD. Go Two Rivers, Wisconsin! http://typeface.kartemquin.com/dvd

idsgn: Update: Typeface (the film) http://bit.ly/6AtHuU limited edition DVD is now available for pre-order http://bit.ly/9sYvF5 (via @TypefaceFilm)

Woodtyper: The @TypefaceFilm DVD is now available for pre-order! http://bit.ly/9hvYgq

AnneLikesRed: @TypefaceFilm so excited, I just ordered!

MagicMaia:Yay! RT @Woodtyper: The @TypefaceFilm DVD is now available for pre-order! http://bit.ly/9hvYgq

Kartemquin is now accepting pre-order purchases for the Typeface DVD. The DVD, out on May 28th 2010, features extra scenes and a slideshow of art created by Tyepface fans inspired by the film, and is exclusively available from the Typeface website. The first 1,000 copies of the DVD also contain a limited edition letterpressed woodtype poster designed by Hamilton Woodtype Museum Artistic Director Bill Moran. Get your order in today!

Also, don't miss the chance to get your own artwork on the DVD by submitting to our call for works inspired by the film.

Be a part of Typeface! Send us your Typeface-inspired artwork. If we love it, we’ll put it on the Typeface DVD – and send you a free copy!  

Kartemquin Films invites designers, artists, filmmakers and typographers to submit artworks inspired by the award-winning documentary Typeface. As the film has traveled the world these past few months, many viewers have already created some amazing artwork related to the film. Now it’s our turn to celebrate you! We’ll be displaying the posters, videos and designs you’ve made on the Typeface website, and will have a selection of our favorites on the upcoming Typeface DVD (out on May 28^th – pre-order starting April 28).

Act fast! To be eligible for the DVD, we need to receive your art by Midnight, May 3^rd. After that date, we won’t be able to consider you for the DVD, but we’ll still display our favorite works on the Typeface website if you’d like to send them to us.  

Be inspired! We are open to works in any media as long as they echo the themes of the film and explore the convergence of contemporary design and traditional techniques. Maybe you’d like to design a new letterpress poster for an upcoming screening, make a mash-up of our trailer, or shoot a video that illustrates our tagline of “Great characters, both wooden and human.” Check out some previously submitted works on this page and in the Typeface store.

Typeface on DVD
A limited edition run of the Typeface DVD will be available exclusively on the Typeface website from May 28th in advance of a wide release later in 2010. The limited edition DVD features extra scenes and a letterpressed woodtype poster designed by Hamilton Wood Type Museum Artistic Director Bill Moran.

Join in!

1. Please complete the submission and materials release form.

2. Send your Typeface-inspired creation to info@kartemquin.com either as a link or an attachment. Photos should be high resolution (jpeg, tiff, bmp or gif of at least 400 dpi). Videos should be no longer than 5 minutes. After that, it’s up to you! We reserve the right to select which artworks are displayed here and on the Typeface DVD. If your entry is selected for the DVD, we’ll let you know after May 3rd.

Questions? Email info@kartemquin.com.

Due to the ongoing ash cloud above Europe delaying many of the event organizers, the London screening of Justine Nagan's Typeface originally scheduled for April 22nd has now been postponed until May 19th. Please contact the LCC for more information.

After praising our fans on Twitter yesterday, we'd now like to highlight some beautiful blogs that have recently been written about our films.

Prisoner of Her Past has been screening to great success this week in Chicago, and there also has been a great response to the DVD release. Trib Nation's James Janega's attended Tuesday's screening, and wrote "Something special is happening in that project -- it is powerful, has its roots in the Holocaust, yes, but also says something about all of our relationships with our parents." Read the whole blog, and join James Janega and Howard Reich for a special online chat about the film on Friday at Noon.

Justine Nagan will take Typeface to Evanston, IL tonight, and then travel to Madison for a big screening at the Wisconsin Film Festival. Read about how seeing Kartemquin's Stevie and Refrigerator Mothers at that same festival changed her life.

At The Death House Door also received a short but superb review this week extolling its worth as a film for classroom use: "I show this film to my students whenever I teach the persuasive essay, and class discussion is always fruitful afterwards. A gorgeously rendered documentary that speaks to the soul," wrote Wisdom Thirst.

Last but certainly not least, the overwhelmingly positive response to the world television premiere of No Crossover: The Trial of Allen Iverson was beyond our expectations - as has been the explosion of blogs commenting on the film (By our count, over 40 in the past 3 days). We posted some of the best pre-broadcast reviews earlier this week, and here's just a small selection of comments we liked:

Pop Matters: "Steve James’ documentary is as profound and multi-layered as its subject, at once politically trenchant and deeply personal."

Crunk & Disorderly: "Given the director’s ability to take an hour worth of footage and interviews and create the depth needed to dissect such a complex story, I give the film and A."

Warriors World: "It used sports as an inroad into some of our society’s deepest, darkest caverns. For that, “No Crossover” is the one of the best documentaries ever made."

Onion AV Club: "Ultimately, The Trial Of Allen Iverson stakes out a seemingly impossible middle ground between the white and black communities, at least insofar as it gives equal voice to both sides and reveals the answers (and, well, The Answer) to be elusive and ambiguous. The film has the extraordinary quality of being simultaneously clarifying and murky, and that’s just great journalism on James’ part. He’s taken arguably the most polarizing figure in basketball over the past 15 years and lowered our collective temperature about him. And that’s no small achievement."

Kartemquin is currently experiencing an incredible flurry of screenings and media attention, with over 60 screenings and television airings of our films scheduled in the rest of April alone! This explosion can be attributed to the extended Chicago run of Prisoner of Her Past, the continuing popular interest in Typeface, the unstoppable success of Milking the Rhino, and the appearance of No Crossover: The Trial of Allen Iverson at a number of festivals around it's world television premiere on ESPN. Many classic Kartemquin films will also be screening at festivals and special events.

It's almost too much for us to comprehend, and we wouldn't want you to miss anything, so please check out our Events Calendar to see if one of these great films is screening near you. For your convenience, here's a breakdown of some recent reviews, media appearances and upcoming screenings that you should look out for:

• Prisoner of Her Past begins a 15 performance run at Chicago's Siskel Film Center tomorrow. Check out reviews from Chicago Reader, Chicago Tribune, Chicago Sun-Times and Time Out Chicago, and Howard Reich's beautiful Chicago Tribune article. If you're in the Chicago area, be sure to watch Howard Reich's interview on NBC 5 Chicago's The Talk at 8am on Holocaust Remembrance Day, Sunday, April 11th. The DVD of the film will be available to buy from April 12th in the Kartemquin store.

• No Crossover: The Trial of Allen Iverson director Steve James will be on NPR's Morning Edition on April 13th, and also on WBEZ Chicago Public Radio's 848 at 9am on April 13th. The film will also be screening at the following festivals in April: Full Frame; Dallas; Sarasota; Philadelphia; River Run; and Nashville. Check here for specific listings. We'll also keep you updated on the many media appearances and reviews of the film that will emerge in relation to the film's world television premiere on April 13th, but here's a good one from this week's Chicago screening.

• Typeface is enjoying a Midwest mini-tour this month, with Illinois screenings in Dekalb, Evanston, Geneva, Champaign and Peoria alongside what promises to be an electric (and already sold out) screening at director Justine Nagan's alma mater of Madison for the Wisconsin Film Festival on April 18th. The film is also catching fire with letterpress and wood type fans across the world and will also travel to Honolulu, Charlotte, Newport Beach and London in April. Full listings here. Also, watch this space for news of the DVD release and an exciting competition!

• It's official: Milking the Rhino cannot be stopped. Director David E. Simpson presents the film in Tallahassee this weekend, and it's also screening at festivals in Phoenix, Milwaukee, Davis and Raleigh, before ending the month at the London International Documentary Film Festival. Full listings here.

• Maybe the new films aren't your thing? There's screenings of Taylor Chain I: A Story in a Union Local, Hoop Dreams, Refrigerator Mothers, and Golub in April as well, including a mini-retrospective of Kartemquin films at the first ever Amnesty International Film Festival.

Many Kartemquin staff members, producers and associates will be present at these screenings. Say hello to us!

"Typeface was born out of an interest in design and visual culture, a love of the Midwest and the desire to make a meaningful social-issue documentary that was also a work of art."

That's Kartemquin Executive Director Justine Nagan on her debut film Typeface, which screens at the Wisconsin Film Festival on April 18th. Read the rest of the article here.

How do you measure the impact of a documentary? Well, in the case of Kartemquin's film Typeface - about the Hamilton Wood Type Museum's attempt to preserve the art of letterpress printing - one way could be through observing all the works of art that fans have created related to the film. Emphasizing the film's theme of how this analog craft is now inspiring artists of the digital age, they have also shared them with the world through social media.

Perhaps inspired by the beautiful donated artworks that are available in the Typeface store, several groups who have partnered with Kartemquin to set up screenings have created posters utilizing the printmaking techniques depicted in the film. Kartemquin has attempted to collect these on the Typeface Facebook page - If you have made a poster or print that isn't there, please let us know so we can add it to the collection! Fans have also shown their devotion by posting online pictures of themselves wearing Typeface t-shirts.

But perhaps the best thing we've seen yet is the work of Alex Fowkes, a student in England who designs under the name Pone. His timelapse video of a special woodcut title sequence he created to accompany an upcoming screening of the film is still a work in progress, but we like it so much we couldn't wait to show it to you. His poster designs are not bad either.

As Architect Magazine put it: "Save the Hamilton Wood Type and Printing Museum! That’s the simple message of filmmaker Justine Nagan’s documentary, Typeface." Thanks to the film's many creative fans around the world, that may just happen.

The University of Wisconsin at Madison has awarded Kartemquin's Executive Director Justine Nagan the 2010 Ralph O. Nafziger award for "distinguished achievement by an alumnus within 10 years of graduation." Justine, a 2000 BA graduate from the School of Journalism and Mass Communication, will collect the award at a dinner reception on Friday April 16th in Madison.

That same weekend, Justine will also present her debut film as director, Typeface, which screens as an official selection of the 2010 Wisconsin Film Festival. Get more information.