Legendary typographer and information designer Erik Spiekermann’s blog turns up some gems every now and then. Not least this:

"Someone found this video from the 80s and copied it onto a CD for me. It is from a BBC programme, where I present a case for Typomania"

You must watch it (it’s a QuickTime movie, featuring our hero describing an obsessive love of typography. Familiar, no?) It’s just drenched in the ’80s, too. That old British Telecom logo. Today newspaper. Expected to see Elite any moment. It looks like an early Open University programme. And that a lot of it was shot in London – I think I recognise Charlotte Street’s Fitzroy Tavern and Etoile restaurant! Looks shabby, as all footage shot at that time does, but credibility saved by the Tom Tom Club and Kraftwerk. Spiekermann is great – bow tie, dry wit, and some great quotes on type, including parallels between the Mercedes Benz 220 and Helvetica and the 2CV and Metro.

Erik Spiekermann: Typomania [QuickTime]