Trade Gothic Bold Spells Out The Hidden Cost of War

And this is the second leg of our little balancing act we started Friday. As we're barely a month away from the American elections, it was to be expected that politically charged subjects might pop up, even on a primarily type-oriented blog. We are ultimately part of the world. So we thought it would be a sound idea to post two entries with different world views one after the other, to prevent people from accusing us of any bias. (Hey, is there an echo in here? ;)

I was sent a link to The Hidden Cost of War, a worrying piece of motion graphics posted on GOOD. GOOD is a collaboration of individuals, businesses, and non-profit organizations pushing the world forward. Since 2006 they've been making a magazine, videos, and events for "people who give a damn". The GOOD website is an ongoing exploration of what GOOD is and what it can be.

In 2003, Donald Rumsfeld estimated a war with Iraq would cost $60 billion. Five years later, the cost of Iraq war operations is more than 10 times that estimate. The information video The Hidden Cost of War examines what's behind the ballooning figures. It draws on Joseph E. Stiglitz and Linda J. Bilme's exhaustively researched book, The Three Trillion Dollar War: The True Cost of the Iraq Conflict; which breaks down the price tag, from current debts to the unseen costs the American people will pay for many years to come.

This collaboration between GOOD and Athletics explains the complicated matter in a motion graphics piece of just under three minutes. Using highly stylized information graphics and animated typography in flat cyan, red, grey, and black, it is designed in the shift-rotate-and-zoom style that seems so popular these days. There is no whizzing or morphing 3D graphics in sight. Trade Gothic Bold is used throughout the whole video, except for some Trade Gothic Bold Condensed No. 20 in the beginning. It proves once more that this vintage straight-sided sans by Jackson Burke is a terrific design, a timeless classic that performs very well in varying contexts. The video is narrated by Andy Bouvé, and features "You Can Not Believe It", by Copy – one of the most unsearchable band names on the 'net – of the record label and art collective Audio Dregs.

See also threetrilliondollarwar.org.