These Mexican chocolate candies, in the style of M&Ms, have letters printed on them. Fortunately, although Lunetas Clásicas are set in the worst typeface ever, they taste fine!

I knew that David Small and others had figured out how to laser-etch text on food, but this egg was the first instance I’d seen of this technology making into my own kitchen.

I’m not sure what to think: useful, creepy, or both?

From Toothpaste for Dinner, of course.

Walking down the cereal aisle today, I observed three distinctly different box designs for Grape-Nuts Trail Mix Crunch. A week earlier, I had noticed only two of of the three and assumed that they were transitioning in a new look. But today, three entirely different boxes were on the shelf, each one containing exactly the same product. (Yes, I compared the ingredients and nutrition “facts” tables.)

This, despite claims that the middle product had a “great taste and lighter crunch” (always an important factor, no?), while the cereal on the right had “MORE! Raisins & Almonds,” a statement which, one could argue, does not make any particular claim due to its broken grammatical structure. It will form associations in people’s minds, just as mentioning “Iraq” and “Osama bin Laden” in the same breath will, but only because people are lazy, and not because of any truthful or meaningful claim. The box on the left does not mention Grape-Nuts at all.

Can anyone suggest a reasonable explanation for this? Could they be market-testing multiple designs to see which one sells best?

The choice between the two Democratic presidential candidates is clear, at least if we’re deciding based on their website and collateral material designs. Finally, the people we really want to hear from are commenting on the Obama campaign’s use of Gotham. First, an analysis by Jonathan Hoefler and Tobias Frere-Jones, the designers of the typeface. And second, a response from Gary Hustwit, director of Helvetica, including a brief interview with H&FJ about Gotham’s origins. (Note to Hillary: Have your design team adjust your keming.)

Update: I just checked hillaryclinton.com. Is it me, or are they using Gotham all over the place now, too?