In 1939, Ruth D. Lechuga (translation: Ruth D. Lettuce) arrived in Mexico City as a political refugee from Nazi Austria. She was fascinated by the local culture and indigenous crafts, and went on to amass one of the largest collections of Mexican folk art, including over 1,200 masks. Some of the finest examples of Ruth's collection are on view now at the Mexican Cultural Institute in Washington, DC.

Tiempo (Mask of Time) 1985, Herminio Candelario. In ancient Mexica culture, 3-faced masks alluded to the cycles of life, depicting the young, the middle age and the skull.

Mexico's multicolored tourism logo is beautifully translated into the institute's brass sign, vulnerable to unfortunate rip-offs (far below), and inpirational for multimedia applications.

Logo victim (ie, "what can go wrong if we do it ourselves?").

A typophile's dream of image meets type in the video below.

This multi-screen interpretive display by Staples and Charles in the fabulous visitor’s center at Monticello knocked my socks off. Elegant letters, evoking fluttering, falling snow, gently cascade through the cohesive group of backlit windows. Without warning, like a whipped-up Nor’ Easter: W H O O O S H ! the letters rise, flip and fly in a tremendous typographic dance, transposing the theme in the boxes. An homage to Tom and type—a delightful example of digital design at its best.