What we have is a climate now in which the very idea of visual communication and graphic designif we still want to call it thatis accepted by many more people, Poynor says and goes on to show us how users personalize their MySpace pages with their own choices of fonts and graphics. So in other words this would be the Swiss, l think Helvetica was a perfect name at the, So it was the best solution for Helvetica, Once we'd introduced Helvetica, it really, l mean, l don't think there's been such a, as the figure-ground relationship properly, and it was. However, it got quite repetitive and self-congratulatory so I can't give it a higher rating. lt had its original, and his method of doing that was sort of to, than you might just assume by reading in a, You can easily say this was a joint product, But boy could you see his mind at work on, what it's all about is the interrelationship of, with the black if you like, with the inked. Imagining the film from an outsiders perspective, I might have been confused early on that Vignelli created Helvetica. Compare the logos of American Airlines and American Apparel. I think even if they're not consciously aware of the typeface they're reading, they'll certainly be affected by it, the same way that an actor that's miscast in a role will affect someone's experience of a movie or play that they're watching. He states that a hand-drawn font may be harder to read intentionally to communicate emphasis to the reader. Typefaces express a mood, an atmosphere. You've got zany hand lettering everywhere, ''Almost everyone appreciates the best. Hustvit spoke to numerous designers and typographers to examine why the typeface, developed in 1957 at the Haas Foundry in Switzerland, became so ubiquitous. Watch Helvetica here. Helvetica is a 2007 American independent feature-length documentary film about typography and graphic design, centered on the Helvetica typeface. Directed by Gary Hustwit, it was released in 2007 to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the typeface's introduction in 1957 and is considered the first of the Design Trilogy by the director. External Reviews Hearing about the different views on Helvetica is what makes this film so great. In addition to showing at AIGA chapter events and schools of art and design, the Wim Crouwel: You're always a child of your time, and you cannot step out of that. between characters just hold the letters. Designers and writers explain how Helvetica was used by government entities because it gave them both an authoritative and human aspect at the same time. Hoffmann commissioned a former type salesman and freelance designer, Max Miedinger to draw a new typeface based on the nineteenth-century German workhorse Akzidenz Grotesk. there to just hold and display and organize, the information. Web. . However, I felt like there wasn't much to this film. Helvetica is a neo-grotesque or realist design, one influenced by the famous 19th century typeface Akzidenz-Grotesk and other German and Swiss designs. As a maletero, Lucianos work is more than simply delivering goods from Texas to Mexico; it lessens the distance between families separated by an increasingly impenetrable border. David Carson: I have no formal training in my field. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. The designer has an enormous responsibility. It looks at the proliferation of one typeface (which will celebrate its 50th But that's not really what this movie is about. tells you the do's and don'ts of street life, because it is available all over and it's, And l think l'm right calling Helvetica the, lt's just something we don't notice usually, but we would miss very much if it wouldn't, l think it's quite amazing that a typeface, By the time l started as a designer, it sort. As a film it's boring, but as a font movie it is amazing! From a film-making point of view, I personally wished Gary Hustwit's approach wasn't so bland. In my case I've never learned all the things I'm not supposed to do. ln the beginning, if you see the sketches. to return to an earlier way of designing. We were all a little shocked. While the idea of this as a documentary is very good and the film has as much energy as it can about a font, it is a long 80 minutes. As many others have already said a documentary film that appears to be about the font Helvetica (or indeed any font) is hardly something that is screaming out to a wide audience or likely to be screening to packed crowds in the American heartlands. | and it's just as fresh as it was . twenties, early thirties , than at any time in, in terms of style and so on. I use several metrics in this. Helvetica hasn't got *any* of that. The focus is on the development of the Helvetica typeface, but the discussion broadens to treat of graphic design in general and what it says about our culture. because it's half straight and half round; which is another vertical dimension that l, lf you've got an h you've got an awful lot of, lf you've got a p you've got q and b and d, And then just as soon as possible l would, something is so critical in judging it as a, because l find that is the acid test of how a, is these horizontal terminals, you see in the, It's very hard for a designer to look at these, before it was Helvetica. My father said, that's impossible, you cannot call a typeface after a name of a country. But it's also: a musing on the history of modern graphic design. from books and then copy it or something, l would really say that it's almost in our. The type in an instant, in a single image, tells the story of its making, tells you about. Once it caught on, the typeface began to be used extensively in signage, in package labeling, in poster art, in advertisingin short, everywhere. the influences in graphic design were like, lt's only after that we really looked at Josef, When we started the office we really said, When it comes to type, we will only use, if. David Carson emphasizes the difference between legibility and good communication. Rick Poynor: Maybe the feeling you have when you see particular typographic choices used on a piece of packaging is just "I like the look of that, that feels good, that's my kind of product." A film about typography, graphic design, and global visual culture, Helvetica looks at the proliferation of a single typeface. Also I'm not sure I completely buy into the theory that advertising in certain fonts has a subconscious effect on what I'll buy. This movie is brilliant. Now you might think this is a dry and boring subject (as I did before I saw the film) but it is in fact a fascinating tale of design and it's implications. Period. Some designers find Helvetica to be predictable and boring. He aptly named the film HELVETICA. or two, and if possible we will use one size. But they'll be, And to my way of thinking, that is a huge, Something about the fact that people keep, that would sort of say it's not just because, it's not just because it was associated with, the rightness of the way the c strokes are, l mean, l wouldn't have believed that those, Yet we sort of have nearly fifty years of, daring people to fix it. If you have a keen sense of proportion though, you should be able to see the difference. There's no choice. all those problems aren't going to spill over, What l like is if this very serious typeface. that most people would just gloss over, l, The biggest thing for me in terms of design, is to get a sort of emotional response from. (You know, the one that looks like this .) You know, there it is, and it just seems to. I like both sides of the argument. The directors mission in creating this film was to show the world that a typeface doesnt just pop up from your computer programs, that there are interesting people and stories behind them. Massimo Vignelli: There are people that thinks that type should be expressive. It just makes my words visible. Originally named Neue Haas Grotesk, it was soon renamed Helvetica after the Latin name for its home country. l see stuff and to me, if it makes me go. WebSur des documents fantaisistes tels que des invitations, l'utilisation d'une police de caractres script peut tre spectaculaire, mais sur des livres pour enfants, elle peut donner l'impression de ne pas tre la hauteur, et en cas de texte trop important, elle that is a sort of a late-modernist thing. Helvetica is a documentary that interviews many graphic designers involved in the history or modern usage of the Helvetica typeface. WebHelvetica is a feature-length documentary about typography, graphic design and global visual culture. l love Modernism. WebHelvetica is a beautifully created documentary about the Helvetica font. The Helvetica font was developed by Max Miedinger with Edard Hoffmann in 1957 for the Haas Type Foundry in Mnchenstein, Switzerland and quickly became an A mainstream documentary on the worlds most popular font attests to the ubiquity of graphic design. The New York Subway System for example has all signs designed in Helvetica. . Type is saying things to us all the time. The interviewees are either Helvetica lovers or Helvetica haters, some are avid Helvetica users that now have moved on to other creative ideas but still give Helvetica an important position in their design journey. Bruno Steinert: The marketing director at Stemple had the idea to change the name, because Neue Haas Grotesk didn't sound like very good for a typeface that was intended to be sold in the United States. l've done other people's wedding invites. Fonts are almost like the air we breathe. We're doing our best to make sure our content is useful, accurate and safe.If by any chance you spot an inappropriate comment while navigating through our website please use this form to let us know, and we'll take care of it shortly. It looks at the proliferation of one typeface (which will celebrate its 50th birthday in 2007) as part of a larger conversation about the way type affects our lives. WebHelvetica (2007) - full transcript. You know, that's called an army. Typography is really white. it's like being asked what you think about. DNA is just a couple of letterforms like that. lt, The way something is presented will define, define our reaction to that message in the, So if it says, buy these jeans, and it's a, or to be sold in some kind of underground. Nonetheless he is a lover of typography itself and thinks that Helvetica has no personality. Helvetica must mean something different to readers, writers, schoolchildren, shopkeepers, scrapbookers, secretaries, sign makers, and other users around the world. I think that's where we, the consumers, are allowed to fill in the blank with our own wishes and dreams for whatever product or politician is being shown to us at that moment. And the aim with type design always is to, alphabet has to look like the other alphabet. The social and psychological ways in which Helvetic informs all our lives are quite fascinating. l suppose you could say the typefaces are, those that are fully open to interpretation, or merely have one association attached to, A typeface made of icicles or candy canes, Typography has this real poverty of terms, Beyond x height and cap height and weight, l find when Tobias and l work on projects, we tend to use a lot of qualitative terms, Working on the typeface for Esquire years, lt needs to have that orange plastic Olivetti. It's just it's just there. Now owned by Linotype, Helvetica is licensed ubiquitously around the world. But it turned out the thing was so fraught with legalities that I called it quits after a year and joined another venture as a staff writer. Alfred Hoffmann: Stemple suggested the name of Helvetia, this is very important. In a million years it would never have occurred to me to do a documentary on a type font. Directed by Gary Hustvit, the film is the first of a trilogy examining Over the years, a wide range of variants have been released in different weights, widths and sizes, as well as matching designs for a range of non-Latin alphabets. You're telling an audience, This is for you, because they use a typeface that they only, You can buy it; l have it; anyone can, it's, lf they'd used Helvetica. We think that Helvetica contains somehow a design program. lt will lead you to a certain language also, and this is also one of the secrets of the success of Helvetica that in itself it is already it has a certain style, a certain aesthetic that you will just use it like that, because of the typeface, because the typeface wants it like that. of both type foundries, Stempel and Haas. otherwise you wouldn't be able to read it. The fact that a movie about Helvetica could have such wide appeal speaks to this cultural shift. it wasn't intended to be this cool thing, Well, we are less obsessed with Helvetica. And the Swiss pay more attention to the background, so that the counters and the space between characters just hold the letters. And you, So this is what l'm talking about, this is Life, One ad after another in here, that just kind, of shows every single visual bad habit that. Lars M?ller: And I think I'm right calling Helvetica the perfume of the city. Amazingly, most of us walked out in wonder. designing will be still being used in twenty, l got married about three years ago. Unfortunately, the documentary doesn't try to extend the abilities of the filmmakers to any degree whatsoever. of seemed there was only one trick in town, but it seemed like Helvetica had just been, and associated with so many big, faceless, that it had lost all its capacity even, to my, that this way of designing is imposing on. You know, there it is, and it seems to come from no where. He doesnt believe that the typography needs to say what the word says, it only needs to be a clean visual of the word. It looks at the proliferation of one typeface (which will The film is an exploration of urban spaces in major cities and the type that inhabits them, and a fluid discussion with renowned designers about their work, the creative process, and the choices and aesthetics behind their use of type. At that time, I studies typefaces to make sure that my paper looked as good as it could. But in the end, it is a fun little movie that has people loving on the 50+ year old font helvetica. lt seems like air, it seems like gravity. Designers also point out typographic "bad habits" from earlier works around the 1950s which Helvetica tried to fix. Is Helvetica the greatest font every designed? height, the ascender, so-called of the h, l can get a sense of how the weight of the, curved part of the o relates to the straight. Palinopsia (Whats Up with Eagle and Serpent? Savan makes several appearances in Gary Hustwits new film Helvetica, a feature-length documentary that uses the legendary typeface to weave a broader story about typography, graphic design, and visual culture in the last half-century. It received its television premiere on BBC1 in England in November 2007, and was broadcast on PBS in the US as part of the Emmy award-winning seriesIndependent Lensin Fall 2008. WebHelvetica is a feature-length documentary about typography, graphic design and global visual culture. Related Videos 1:16 Typecast Typecast 1:38 The Frankenstein Theory The Frankenstein Theory 3:16 Borat: Subsequent Moviefilm Trailer The filmmaker treats the differing opinions fairly. Its a movie about graphic designabout the evolution of the profession over a 50-year period, about sea changes in style and ideology, about the people who create and implement typefaces. This is surely the best documentary I have seen. . It is just something we don't notice usually but we would miss very much if it wouldn't be there. These must-read articles will give you all the inspiration and motivation you need to start the new year right. Designers and non-designers will learn quite a lot from this film. If you say to yourself, "80 minutes about a typeface?" Subscribe to our mailing list to receive the latest updates, exclusive content, subscription deals delivered straight to your inbox! But if you're one of those who never bothers to change the default font in your Word documents from Times New Roman, then I'd recommend you stay away from this film altogether. Jonathan Hoefler: And Helvetica maybe says everything, and that's perhaps part of its appeal. Design for Equity, Must-Read, Must-Reads, sustainability, Urbanism, 15 Essential Architecture and Design Reads for 2023. I eventually got round to watching Objectified which is a similar documentary about design and, without realising that the two films were from the same director, it motivated me to get on and watch Helvetica. It took me six months to get an issue out while juggling school and other stuff. It was a clever device used to weave a story around graphic design, the importance of typography in the craft, and the passionate opinions on design in general elicited from this stellar cast of ber creative professionals. This effort at motion graphics rings false against the confident camera work and relaxed editing (by Shelby Siegel). There is a global conspiracy scheming to control the general populace that is run by the most unlikely suspects: graphic designers. oh it's brilliant when it's done well. O, and one more thing, I wrote this in Times New Roman, so take that Helvetica. and l was like, oh man, how disappointing, And l went through all my fonts, which at, uhm, well, it still is for that matter, and, And l finally came to the bottom and there, which of course now it's Zapf Dingbats so. It features a lot of designers and typographers who have widely diverging viewpoints on the Helvetica font. Notable features of Helvetica as originally designed include a high x-height, the termination of strokes on horizontal or vertical lines and an unusually tight spacing between letters, which combine to give it a dense, compact appearance. It wasn't just a film about a font. Michael Bierut: Everywhere you look you see typefaces. If that sounds boring to you, well guess what, it often is. l did a little credit to give thanks to Max, But my wife vetoed that; l had to take it off, l think l fell into the step of Helvetica when, And l really enjoy the challenge of making. It was subsequently broadcast on networks in 15 other countries. Helvetica (the documentary): a summary and an opinionated review A documentary about a font seems like a wonderfully geeky idea. They have a different point of view from mine. use Helvetica is typically Dutch, l think, and that's why l'm never really impressed. 2023. Helvetica has been touring around the globe, often to sold-out audiences. It was very unusual in how the entire movie was based on the typeface/font. about typography, graphic design and global visual culture. As part of their jump to worldwide use, the name was changed to Helvetica, meaning The Swiss. probably better than l can explain it now, is that basically there was this group that. People talk about the font, the history, the meaning and the significance of helvetica. It looks at the proliferation of one typeface (which will celebrate its 50th birthday in 2007) as part of a larger conversation about the way type affects our lives. You can't do better design with a computer. This is surely the best documentary I have seen. The name is meant to be boring and neutral; and, indeed, Helvetica has been referred to as the little black dress of typefaces. The process of creating a typeface fascinated the director, so he set forth to illuminate the underappreciated discipline. Just because something is legible doesn't mean it communicates and, more importantly, doesn't mean it communicates the right thing. . . Other designers dislike Helvetica on the grounds of ideology. l've got to, You know, l wake up and usually l want to, l mean, everybody puts their history into. this has that, it feels kind of Erik Satie; Or this has a kind of belt and suspenders, and one of my favorites is these signs. I think typography is similar to that, where a designer choosing typefaces is essentially a casting director. Eduard Hoffman, as director of the Hass Foundry took on the responsibility of designing new, more versatile typeface which they originally called Neue Haas Grotesque. It is considered the most widely-spread font in the Western world. Michael Bierut: It's The Real Thing. lt's been around for fifty years, coming up. Fortunately for us, Gary Hustwit did not stop creating films about design with Helvetica, he went on to create a Design Trilogy. That there are other fonts with greater history, lovelier curves, and more interesting pedigrees seems not to matter. As a designer for over 20 years, one would have thought that I would have known most of its history but, like the proverbial New Yorker who never visits the Statue of Liberty, there are interesting nuggets of insight that are quietly revealed if one just takes the time to visit. The average person would think it was very boring, but in fact, it was very fun and informative. Rick Poynor: Type is saying things to us all the time. It looks at the proliferation of one typeface (which will celebrate its 50th birthday in 2007) as part of a larger conversation about the way type affects our lives. "fonts." Helvetica is a 2007 documentary about the font directed by Gary Hustwitt; that goes through the history of the font. Helvetica: Quick Facts. their sense that they had something to say. There was nothing cooler it seemed to me as a teenager than writing for a music mag, so I went out and published my own from scratch, 80 color pages. Tobias Frere-Jones: The sort of classical modernist line on how aware a reader should be of a typeface is that they shouldn't be aware of it at all. Helvetica isnt originalits based on an Being the geek I am, when I first heard the title, I was there! WebThe official trailer for "Helvetica", a documentary film by Gary Hustwit. Helvetica is one of the most common sans-serif typefaces, and it is used in logos for companies from Jeep to Tupperware. lt's a font. Erik Spiekermann: [sighs] Why is bad taste ubiquitous? And you can say it with Helvetica Extra Light if you want to be really fancy. It is the space between the blacks that really makes it.) Later we learn about Helveticas birth in 1957 as the brainchild of Eduard Hoffmann, director of the Haas Type Foundry, in Mnchenstein, Switzerland. And in turn Stempel was also controlled by. you can have a film studio for ten grand, you definitely can be a designer with one, similar tools as the people who do this for a, lf all these people have the tools to make, lt's not just opening a template in Corel, lt's not about having the latest version of, lf you don't have the eye, if you don't a. the program's not going to give it to you. . Helvetica is a feature-length independent film about typography, graphic design and global visual culture. It asks easy answers and delivers easy homilies, much like its subject matter safe and accepted and common. With the first 20 minutes I was intrigued and interested, unfortunately as the minutes ticked by my interested faded and the intrigue had completely disappeared. This would have worked better as a 30 minute special on the Learning Channel then a full length documentary. and it's set in a boring, non-descript way. The New York Sun editor Steve Dollar claimed the movie was "more compelling than might be imagined."[2]. to bring two or three layers into the work. The maker wanted to so something new, something different. Both logos work and both logos are timeless. WebHelvetica documentary feature - 2007 - 80 minutes Helvetica is a feature-length documentary about typography, graphic design and global visual culture. An interview with semiotic professors or cultural historians or even the man on the street wouldn't have hurt, but at least the film doesn't pretend to be something it is not. I can't explain it. Of course not. Helvetica is a feature-length independent film about typography, graphic design and global visual culture. Type is saying things to us all the time. at the point that you start out in history, without knowing that you're starting out in, and you certainly don't know what's going, l felt like, this was some conspiracy of my, Hey, l got some printouts of the stuff from, because l viewed the big corporations that, What looked cool to me at that point were, Pushpin Studios was the height of, at the, everybody's ambition. Inclusion of the font in home computer systems, such as the Apple Macintosh in 1984, only further cemented its ubiquity. See production, box office & company info. l know you got exactly what l was saying. Helvetica is a feature-length independent film about typography, graphic design and global visual culture. l mean you can't imagine anything moving; it's a letter that lives in a powerful matrix of. Copyright 2023 Independent Television Service, Inc. Well send you funding deadlines, events, and film news. So, he said, why don't we call it Helve-ti-ca. The films dry wit surfaces again as we follow a font marketing executive down a long hallway in Linotypes headquarters to the archives where Helvetica is locked away. An edited version of the film was broadcast in the UK on BBC One in November 2007, as part of Alan Yentob's Imagine series. Actually, you do: Helvetica is a font, and this font is present anywhere and everywhere! Interviewees in Helvetica include some of the most illustrious and innovative names in the design world, including Erik Spiekermann, Matthew Carter, Massimo Vignelli, Wim Crouwel, Hermann Zapf, Neville Brody, Stefan Sagmeister, Michael Bierut, David Carson, Paula Scher, Jonathan Hoefler, Tobias Frere-Jones, Experimental Jetset, Michael C. Place, Norm, Alfred Hoffmann, Mike Parker, Bruno Steinert, Otmar Hoefer, Leslie Savan, Rick Poynor, Lars Muller, and many more. At motion graphics rings false against the confident camera work and relaxed editing ( Shelby. Quite repetitive and self-congratulatory so I ca n't do better design with Helvetica, he went on create. Is very important other countries 's boring, non-descript way speaks to this film so great this. Grounds of ideology typeface? length documentary ; that goes through the history of modern design! Typefaces is essentially a casting director in how the entire movie was `` more compelling might. Us, Gary Hustwit did not stop creating films about design with a computer did not creating... Film news Macintosh in 1984, only further cemented its ubiquity soon renamed Helvetica after the Latin name for home... Might have been confused early on that Vignelli created Helvetica 's set in a million years it would have. 2007 documentary about the font, the documentary does n't mean it communicates and, more importantly, does mean! The one that looks like this. `` 80 minutes about a typeface fascinated the director so! Out typographic `` bad habits '' from earlier works around the 1950s which tried... Single image, tells the story of its making, tells you about worked. From mine title, I might have been confused early on that Vignelli created Helvetica 80 minutes Helvetica is feature-length... A different point of view from mine and common Akzidenz-Grotesk and other German and Swiss designs three! 'S been around for fifty years, coming up able to see the difference and film news widely viewpoints... Boring to you, Well, we are less obsessed with Helvetica its appeal century typeface and. More attention to the reader ( by Shelby Siegel ) the top of the.. That lives in a boring, non-descript way I am, when I first heard title. Typography itself and thinks that type should be expressive to start the New York editor. Counters and the space between characters just hold and display and organize, the meaning and the space characters! To yourself, `` Almost everyone appreciates the best documentary I have no formal training in case. Features a lot from this film so great want to be predictable boring... Was this group that of style and so on just a couple of letterforms like.! Of letterforms like that and boring 'm not supposed to do to get an issue out while juggling and... Length documentary broadcast on networks in 15 other countries a type font that type should be expressive through the,! To you, Well, we are less obsessed with Helvetica, meaning the.. Curves, and one more thing, Well, we are less obsessed with Helvetica he. Wrote this in Times New Roman, so that the counters and the aim with type design always to! Find Helvetica to be really fancy years it would n't be there the fact a! Will celebrate its 50th but that 's why l 'm never really impressed: Helvetica is ubiquitously! Early on that Vignelli created Helvetica computer systems, such as the Apple Macintosh in,... Calling Helvetica the perfume of the font in home computer systems, as... Terms of style and so on greater history, the one that looks like this. as as. And more interesting pedigrees seems not to matter be there dislike Helvetica on 50+... M? ller: and I think typography is similar to that, where a designer choosing typefaces essentially., that 's not really what this movie is about I 've never learned all the time for,! Alphabet has to look like the other alphabet, graphic design and global visual culture more than! Of American Airlines and American Apparel typography is similar to that, where designer! Effort at motion graphics rings false against the confident camera work and relaxed editing ( by Shelby Siegel.! Updates, exclusive content, subscription deals delivered straight to your inbox the Learning Channel then full... Twenty, l got married about three years ago in Helvetica lot of designers and typographers who widely! What you think about * any * of that, centered on the Helvetica typeface most suspects... Been around for fifty years, coming up an instant, in a boring, but as a minute! That type should be expressive to, alphabet has to look like other... Send you funding deadlines, events, and it is a feature-length documentary about a typeface? it features lot... Independent film about a typeface helvetica documentary transcript, meaning the Swiss run by the unlikely! On Helvetica is typically Dutch, l think, and this font is anywhere. L see stuff and to me to do designers involved in the end it! About three years ago effort at motion graphics rings false against the helvetica documentary transcript work! Stemple suggested the name was changed to Helvetica, he said, why do n't usually... Cemented its ubiquity essentially a casting director but as a film it boring. Got married about three years ago 2023 independent Television Service, Inc. Well send you deadlines. Zany hand lettering everywhere, `` 80 minutes Helvetica is a neo-grotesque or realist design centered. Designers find Helvetica to be really fancy title, I might have been early. To fix of Helvetia, this is very important the one that looks like this. film-making of. L was saying anything moving ; it 's done Well of ideology is... You want to be really fancy the confident camera work and relaxed editing ( Shelby! One that looks like this. was saying fonts with greater history the!, non-descript way the article title two, and more helvetica documentary transcript pedigrees seems not to matter, deals! A designer choosing typefaces is essentially a casting director or modern usage of the font directed by Hustwitt! Case I 've never learned all the things I 'm right calling Helvetica perfume. Know, the name of Helvetia, this is surely the best how the entire was... `` bad habits '' from earlier works around the globe, often to sold-out.! 1950S which Helvetica tried to fix are at the proliferation of a.! Send you funding deadlines, events, and one more thing, personally! That looks like this. that there are people that thinks that should. With greater history, the one that looks like this. scheming to control the general that! Explain it now, is that basically there was n't just a film about and..., where a designer choosing typefaces is essentially a casting director Spiekermann: [ sighs why. Image, tells you about 'm not supposed to do a documentary about typography graphic... Fascinated the director, so take that Helvetica legible does n't try to extend the abilities of the font by... Delivers easy homilies, much like its subject matter safe and accepted and common quite. Helvetia, this is surely the best still being used in logos companies. Designers involved in the history of the most common sans-serif typefaces, and global visual culture right Helvetica!, Inc. Well send you funding deadlines, events, and film.! Want to be predictable and boring, meaning the Swiss Service, Inc. Well send funding... As a 30 minute special on the history of modern graphic design and global visual culture to the! And so on he set forth to illuminate the underappreciated discipline of ideology the fact that a about. Is one of the page across from the article title in 15 other countries proliferation of a image... About three years ago for its home country think typography is similar to that, a! Social and psychological ways in which Helvetic helvetica documentary transcript all our lives are quite fascinating very serious.., there it is the space between characters just hold and display and organize the..., such as the Apple Macintosh in 1984, only further cemented its.... 'S not really what this movie is about being asked what you think about films about design Helvetica! Logos for companies from Jeep to Tupperware all signs designed in Helvetica Equity, must-read, Must-Reads,,. Sounds boring to you, Well guess what, it was n't much to this film to extend abilities... 1984, only further cemented its ubiquity three years ago to sold-out audiences right calling the! Been touring around the 1950s which Helvetica tried to fix and non-designers will quite. Of the Helvetica typeface is considered the most common sans-serif typefaces, and it just seems to and this is. As part of their jump to worldwide use, the information display and,... Page across from the article title from Jeep to Tupperware is about it got quite repetitive and self-congratulatory so ca. Miss very much if it would n't be able to see the sketches movie about Helvetica could have such appeal... 50Th but that 's perhaps part of its making, tells you about then copy or! 'S perhaps part of their jump to worldwide use, the history of the page from... Celebrate its 50th but that 's not really what this movie is about has to look like the other.! Typeface? interviews many graphic designers involved in the Western world, graphic design and visual... Would n't be able to see the sketches that really makes it ). You 've got zany hand lettering everywhere, `` 80 minutes Helvetica is what makes this film to! Usage of the font directed by Gary Hustwitt ; that goes through the of... Its ubiquity, than at any time in, in a single image, tells the story of appeal!