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Issue 2 has arrived! To celebrate, Gratuitous Type’s friends and contributors have created photos, drawings, and (in this case!) video to help us launch the issue. Each piece centers around the theme of “2”, and we’ll be rolling out this special work all week, while gently reminding you that you can buy the magazine here. GT is also available at stockists around the world, and should arrive at your favorite bookshops soon. 

Starting our week of 2’s off with a (much-needed) jolt of caffeine is a film by Christian Sorensen Hansen. Christian is a multi-talented filmmaker/director/awesome dude who splits his time between both US coasts. Read more about Christian here and see his portfolio here. 

Painter/sculpter/set-designer/cartoonist/puppet-maker/Issue 2-interviewee/awesome dude Wayne White is the subject of the upcoming documentary Beauty is Embarrassing, directed by Neil Berkeley. Follow the film on twitter for news of upcoming screenings, including the doc’s debut at this year’s SXSW. Read more about Wayne and see images from our studio visit with the artist (like this outtake above, photographed by Ross Mantle) in the very-nearly-almost-here issue of GT.

If you’re a fan of campy, culty experimental film, some of the finest, funniest stuff out there was made by the Kuchar brothers — George and Mike — twin brothers from the Bronx who began shooting 8mm shorts in the 1950s. Their work is filled with great, inventive stuff, but one of my favorite things about it has always been their lo-fi titles. Highly recommend checking them out.

If you’ve seen the amazing Italian film I Am Love, you’re already familiar with the stunning work of Luca Barcellona, the designer and calligrapher responsible for the film’s titles. If not, get acquainted — Barcellona’s lettering is absolutely inspiring. Check out his multidisciplinary work on Flickr and not-to-be-missed video of the artist in action. Wow.

While cinephiles accuse Kanye West and Hype Williams of ripping off Gaspar Noé’s Enter the Void in Kanye’s latest video, “All of the Lights”, we’ll just be enjoying both of these so-bad-they’re-great, totally badass, seizure-inducing typographic sequences. Enjoy.

We had the typography of Jean-Luc Godard on the brain this morning, and it seems that everyone else did, too. A quick search for this New Wave master revealed a wealth of exciting new online resources of his work. First there are the collections of Godard’s titles and intertitles at the Walker Art Center blog and Movie Title Stills Collection. Then there’s Atelier Carvalho Bernau’s release of The JeanLuc Alphabet, a typeface based on the PDU alphabet, used extensively in Godard’s title sequences. Atelier Carvalho Bernau also links to some other great Godard references, including Laura Forde’s lecture “Jean-Luc Godard’s Critical Appropriation of Graphic Design in the 1960s.”

In addition to films, music videos and animations, the multi-talented Christian Hansen (featured in Issue 1) combines handmade typography with still images in a carefully-honed technique that involves painting type directly onto reclaimed glass. Applying this process to film titles, commissioned images and personal work, Hansen has creates pieces that evoke cinematic narratives while betraying the filmmakers weakness for modern typography. These images offer a look behind the scenes of one of Hansen’s latest endeavors, a cover shoot for the latest album from Seattle-based band Moondoggies.

Photos by Ryan McMackin