Movie: Helvetica

Earlier this week I sat down and watched the 2007 documentary, Helvetica, on Blu-ray. Being a fan of documentaries, obscure knowledge, and graphic design I figured I couldn't really go wrong. Fortunately, my assumptions were proven right and I was rewarded with a (dare I say?) entertaining film covering the history and prolific nature of the font type helvetica.

The documentary takes the form of interviews with well known graphic designers and the family and friends of those responsible for the creation of helvetica in Switzerland 50 years ago. These interviews are divided by images of text all over cities throughout the world using the font. I must admit that I really was made aware of just how prevalent the font is. Since watching this I have also started noticing the font everywhere!

A bit more surprising was the intense opinions about helvetica held in the graphic design community. One woman basically said that in the 1970's she wouldn't use Helvetica because it was the font type of corporations and it was corporations that sponsored the Vietnam war. Easy, killer! Of course, it is easy to laugh at her statement, but one thing I was confronted with was how fonts effect how it is we see what we are reading. Some fonts cannot say what other fonts can say with the same words. The massive use of helveica is largely due to the fact that it is neutral and can say anything. Helvetica is the font of choice for corporations - and governments, advertisers, and people making lost dog signs. Helvetica is for everyone for anything.

In the end, Helvetica served it's purpose in giving me a history of the font itself, its use and theory, as well as confront me just how widespread the use of it is. It is put together very well and the movie never drags or gets boring. I really enjoyed watching it and feel a bit smarter - which is the point, right? I would not buy this Blu-ray (or dvd) but would definitely recommend it. I feel I should add that, oddly, there are a few f-bombs dropped by some of the interview subjects.

This post was NOT in Helvetica. ;)




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