http://www.helveticafilm.com/

"Helvetica is a feature-length independent film about typography, graphic design and global visual culture. It looks at the proliferation of one typeface (which is celebrating its 50th birthday this year) as part of a larger conversation about the way type affects our lives."

Just saw this last night. For most people, the fact that this film was even made is probably kind of a joke. I'm not a designer, but I do work in that world, so I had a tiny, tiny smidgen of interest in the subject prior to entering the film. To it's credit the film helps anyone see that the typeface is ubiquitous enough that it warrants a closer look, since it's a huge part of our visual lives, whether we realize it or not.

It's definitely overlong, though not excruciatingly so, and probably repeats itself a little too much, but almost all of the personalities interviewed are wonderful speakers, and if you're not fascinated by their wonderful insights into typography, you'll at least be fascinated that they can speak so articulately and passionately about something so many people find dull.

Anyway, I'd say anyone in the Graphic Design industry should see it, because it poses some good questions about the fundamental role that type serves. To put it simply, should typefaces be objective or subjective? (I'm mostly in the latter camp. But I also like post-modernism in graphic design, too, so what do I know?)

And even if you're not a designer, if you have an open mind it would be worth seeing, because I don't mean to alarm you, but look around: Helvetica has you surrounded. And by that very virtue, it's a typeface that might not be as benign as you'd think.

vvvvv HUNDREDS OF RESPONSES GO DOWN HERE vvvvv

Also, this:

http://www.theonion.com/content/node/28261

Most despised (by typey people) of all serif fonts.

None of that serif-y bullshit.

that and Papyrus. there is no reason to use either. not even on wedding invitations.

Though all in all I don't think there is a single more hated font than Comic Sans (technically a script font, though personally I'd classify it more as a computer virus)

1. Papyrus
2. Apple Chancery
3. Comic Sans
4. Brush Script
5. Curls
6. Zapfino
7. Impact
8. Jokerman
9. Mistral
10. Snap

there's WAY more, but i'll stop at 10

BTW, Zapf himself is featured in the film.

(I don't even know if the pun works anymore after the edit.)

No. No it does not.

http://cheshiredave.com/mastication/2002/07/0037a-btt.html

As far as the objectivity/subjectivity debate, I tend to be of the mind that while a font may be objective, people cannot. Helvetica to me is the GOAT font because it's just such a pure embodiment of form following function. It gets its point across without calling any attention to itself whatsoever. It doesn't impose. It is objective as shit. It has no personality.

However, having zero personality can actually be seen as a personality trait, and so we tend to kind of see Helvetica as this cold lifeless corporate thing that is in fact quite imposing. Probably doesn't help matters that it's fucking everywhere, it's damn near Orwellian.

But I think there's a beauty to its form and people need to stop blaming Helvetica.

Helvetica doesn't kill people. People do.

Some just express exasperation over how it's often used. (By people.)

Someone called it the font of city life, or something similiar, and that's kind of how I feel, too. So I'm okay with it's use for certain things that fit in that context, and I appreciate that something that's everywhere is actually beautiful, but it's kind of cold and a little alienating to me. It's like 2001: A Space Odyssey: The Font!

Maybe because I'm a copywriter, I like fonts with a little bit more narrative power--something to give my headlines a little bit of help, because oh man, do they need it.

> but it's kind of cold and a little alienating to
>me. It's like 2001: A Space Odyssey: The Font!


You know I bet you there actually is a 2001: A Space Odyssey: The Font! ... Anyway, I guess in the 'cold' and 'alienating' sense you're right, but the thing about Space Odyssey is you watch it and you're not entirely sure what happened. Helvetica is clear as day, you never walk away thinking 'now what did that say?' So in that sense it's nothing like Space Odyssey.

But... Both are now movies. So, all in all, great analogy.


>Maybe because I'm a copywriter, I like fonts with a little bit
>more narrative power--something to give my headlines a little
>bit of help, because oh man, do they need it.

Hmmm how do you mean? Like a traditional serif font, more suited for long passages of printed text (for people)?

Wow we are really talking about this.

Say I'm writing a line for the most EXTREME energy drink ever created. Sure, other energy drinks are pretty extreme, but BOO-YA takes it to the limit! So my line reads "BOO-YA is to queers like holy water is to vampires!" That font should probably be real jagged and roughed up, maybe even with slashes from a bear claw. Or a tiger. Helvetica couldn't cut it. That's the mindset I'm coming from.

>Wow we are really talking about this.

Actually, we're typing about it, but the typeface being used is so expressive it has tricked you into thinking we're talking about it.

in helvetica.

i think he should have had it written in comic sans.

irony!

If they saw someone with the tattoo you suggested. Which means it's awesome.

*starts to throw up a "c" gang set*

*catches a carpal tunnel cramp*
______________________________________________________________________
I have no remorse
So check me out in The Source

it will appeal to those who like good documentaries. I like a good film regardless of subject, although a film about curling irons probably won't keep my interest.

that said, it's worth a watch.

and I may be wrong, but I think the Okayplayer logo is Helvetica.

they didn't show it in memphis so i gotta wait til Nov. to get it

I am BIG on typography. It's just as important if not more than visual art as far as advertising goes. Typography is art in itself.

Buuuuuuut...I'm not too sure if I wanna rush out and see a movie about a font. Yet.

Most people probably wouldn't care if you told them type has been badly kerned, but their eyes will be slightly uncomfortable looking at something that strains them to read. So, ultimately, it's pretty important.

missed it at this special movie-night-festival-kinda-thing....

My wife even sort of liked it, at least the parts she didn't sleep through, so I think that's a good sign. Even if you're not a designer/design nerd, this movie will make you stop and think about the visual language of the world around you, possibly in a way you never took the time to consider. The remaining hour and fifteen minutes may bore you to tears, though. Fair warning.

They had some really great designers on there giving commentary. Some of these guys, I've seen their work, I've used their fonts, I've read their essays, but I'd never seen what they look like. So that was kind of cool. Sagmeister and Carson were 2 big heroes of mine in college (aka when everyone thinks they're going to design nothing but album covers for the rest of their lives) and although I find that Carson in particular is mostly full of crap, he's always fun and interesting with it. It was cool how they kind of traced the rise and fall and second coming of type, those shifts have always fascinated me.

There were definitely some mad doggies in this film. But they seemed to fall into 2 categories: Either their work just tended to be more on the studio art/illustrative side of things, or they disagreed with the *idea* of Helvetica moreso than the font itself.

Surf magazines and album covers aside, I do think that Helvetica is the font for modern civilization we we know it. Until our needs change drastically enough to require a new visual language, I don't see anything fucking with the GOAT.

That said, Frutiger and Akzidenz are pretty cool, too.

why do people still consider him relevant? he had his day and it's long over. his style hasn't held up over the years, which just goes to show that he really was a one-trick pony and a pony who got a lucky break on the trick.

but at least he looked like he was enjoying life.

Imagine being a stiff, miserable old bastard like Vignelli.

And I think his influence is still being felt in the design world... not as much as it used to be, but it's there.

I assumed he just walked around everywhere with things carved into his chest.

The maddest doggie was that one German guy though.

Sagmesiter = the man

is it on dvd yet?

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it was well done, but i found it to be more of a commentary on smug "pioneers" than typeface design. i wish it had been more informative for the non-designer audience -- spending more time explaining what makes helvetica... helvetica.

nobody really knows.

they spotlighted a couple earmarks, but beyond that there was little to inform broader audiences about type design. for me it came across as another example of design for designers... and that's unfortunate.

given a documentary forum, it would have been nice to see the film make an effort to extend beyond the cozy, nepotistic design community and pique interest in the general public.

as a designer i enjoyed the film, but i didn't walk away with much more than i sat down with. what's a shame is that my wife -- a non-designer -- didn't either.

I watched it a few nights ago. Great documentary. Massimo Vignelli is the man.

I don't have Helvetica on either one of my computers though. That's really annoying.

Bierut was cracking me up with that, although one thing kind of bugged me about that scene. All those horrible atrocious pre-Helvetica magazine ads? I thought they looked fantastic.

>All those horrible atrocious
>pre-Helvetica magazine ads? I thought they looked fantastic.

My wife and I both said the same thing. I wonder if they were fantastic to begin with, or if it's just the shifting context.

I think today we can look back at them and appreciate the craft and the retro-ness of them. There's something sort of nostalgic and romantic about them.

But it's that whole 'pendulum swing' thing. 20 years ago is 'retro', 5 years ago is just plain out of touch. So I can see why a certain generation might not be so keen on certain styles.

Plus you gotta consider the clutter factor. Sure those ads look great when you just look at one or two of them, but imagine if EVERY ad you saw had those kinds of bells and whistles adorning them. It would be kind of an eyesore.

But with time, the visual has become the concept. I guess I'm not really looking at them from a typographic stance anymore.

I dunno if the episodes are still on On Demand, or if they're available on DVD or what... but yeah, you need to look into it.

I don't know that the Helvetica-ized ads were any stronger conceptually than their predecessors. Bolder, definitely. And probably much more effective just by virtue of the fact that the public hadn't really seen anything like it before. The concept is always going to be 'You want to buy this', the advertisers just have to switch their methods up from time to time. 'Viral Marketing' is kind of a recent buzz word, but the thing is marketing has always been viral. And certain bugs only work for so long before the public grows immune. Then you gotta use a different bug.

As a consumer, I like how the ads of the 50s didn't try to be anything other than ads. Today you will occasionally see a retro-styled ad in the same vein visually, but they're working on other levels, too. They're being all cheeky about it. I mean I'm guilty of making ads like that myself, but as a consumer I'm like 'stop trying to be my friend, ad.'

(sorry about the tangent... I'm just really pushing for the platinum status here)

I'm glad to see AMC has swerved from it's original purpose: to prove that Fright Night is indeed an American Movie Classic.

I hear you on your wish that ads would just be what they are and state their case and quit trying to be so damn likable. Or edgy. Or poetic. I think most people would say the same thing. But the horror of focus groups has taught me that people really aren't all that great at figuring out what they want in an ad. They can say they just want the facts, please, but then some bright, imaginative ad will come along and make them forget all about the more straight forward ads. The problem is that so many ads go for that and fail, with the end result being a lot of obnoxious advertising. Whereas it could have just been a lot of boring but unobjectionable advertising.

And of course there are ways to make ads that are both creative and straight forward. That's kind of the holy grail to me.

But yeah, a lot of those Helvetica ads were not very impressive from a conceptual perspective. Just a different way to dress up the same unobjectionable advertising.

Am I the only one that thinks the American Airlines logo was the crappiest "shining example" of Helvetic offered in the film?

>I hear you on your wish that ads would just be what they are
>and state their case and quit trying to be so damn likable. Or
>edgy. Or poetic. I think most people would say the same thing.
>But the horror of focus groups have taught me that people
>really aren't all that great at figuring out what they want in
>an ad. They can say they just want the facts, please, but then
>some bright, imaginative ad will come along and make them
>forget all about the more straight forward ads. The problem is
>that so many ads go for that and fail, that the end result
>being a lot of obnoxious advertising. Whereas it could have
>just been a lot of boring but unobjectionable advertising.

I can't deny any of this. It's like politics...we all SAY we want to vote on our leaders based on reason and 'the issues'... but let's be real, we are all creatures of hype and we vote on emotion. And everybody likes a good, funny commercial, just ask Kevin Nealon.


>But yeah, a lot of those Helvetica ads were not very
>impressive from a conceptual perspective. Just a different way
>to dress up the same unobjectionable advertising.

The Coke ad example seemed like the Helvetica ad was even less manipulative. Coke wasn't going to make you any happier or more attractive, but it was Coke, and it was there, and that's really all the reason you should need to drink it. Sort of a 'you can lead a horse to a soda fountain' mentality.


>Am I the only one that thinks the American Airlines logo was
>the crappiest "shining example" of Helvetic offered in the
>film?

Man, I was thinking the same thing. Congratulations to American Airlines for not changing their dried up crusty ass logo from 1967. Way to strive, guys.

(You know, even UPS updated their Paul Rand joint, fellas... it's okay to spitshine the ol' corporate ID every now and then)

Some designer is going to watch this movie and take it as a challenge, though. Maybe AA will see this flick and say 'holy shit, we haven't updated our logo!' I give it 3 more years, tops.

When UPS changed their logo, there was much weeping, wailing and gnashing of teeth in the design class I was taking. I was afraid to voice my opinion that maybe it's not a great idea for a delivery company trying to move into the future to be represented by a package tied up with string. They would have rolled me up in big black turtleneck and thrown me off of a bridge.

The problem with that thinking is that they're looking at the logo as a classic work of art, like a Mona Lisa or something, that should never be desecrated. So to the design crowd this was the equivalent of someone walking into the Sistine Chapel and painting everybody in spacesuits. But that's not what logos are, and at the end of the day UPS will still lose your package just like they always did.

The new logo is kind of ugly though, but there's no question that it looks faster and more modern.

i enjoyed it
and would like to rent it
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