the more you appreciate it when it's terrific. You know, there it is, and it just seems to. Watch Helvetica here. Helvetica: Quick Facts. their sense that they had something to say. Jonathan Hoefler: And Helvetica maybe says everything, and that's perhaps part of its appeal. Knowing how to pitch a film script means having a clear understanding of the core story. Erik Spiekermann: I mean, everyone puts their history into their work. They didn't know what they were caring for. Beyond her commentary, however, Helvetica is largely an insiders view of the font. Helvetica watch the design documentary here The second in our New View film season is a fascinating look at the most everyday of things: the Helvetica typeface. . David Carson: Don't confuse legibility with communication. Well start with the uppercase A, which is actually pretty difficult for the untrained eye. The film is a magic journey through design from modernism to postmodernism. it's the whole, the guy who designed it tried to make all. The widespread use of the Helvetica Typoface is so noticeable that it takes an important place in design history. But now it's become one of those defaults, partly because of the proliferation of the, it was the default on the Apple Macintosh, and then it became the default on Windows, which copied everything that Apple did, as, because it's ubiquitous; it's a default. or two, and if possible we will use one size. Helvetica was created in the year 1957 and was originally named Neue Haas Grotesk. 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. Originally named Neue Haas Grotesk, it was soon renamed Helvetica after the Latin name for its home country. As someone who studies ubiquitous socio All featured designers in the film tell their story around Helvetica and how it framed their design growth. I just did what made sense to me. I use several metrics in this. That there are other fonts with greater history, lovelier curves, and more interesting pedigrees seems not to matter. . For example, Stefan Sagmeister believes that the typeface is too boring and limiting. Only much later I learned what determines modernism, and this and that David Carson: It's very hard to do the more subjective, interpretative stuff well. Erik Spiekermann: [sighs] Why is bad taste ubiquitous? Helvetica encompasses the worlds of design, advertising, psychology, and communication, and invites us to take a second look at the thousands of words we see every day. - this movie may not be for you. Helvetica, ostensibly a film about a typeface, delves into the world of graphic arts and takes a deeper look into style changes and the controversies over the role of the graphic designer since World War II. Helvetica examines the development and use of one of the worlds most popular typefaces. Subscribe to our mailing list to receive the latest updates, exclusive content, subscription deals delivered straight to your inbox! Helvetica is one of the most common sans-serif typefaces, and it is used in logos for companies from Jeep to Tupperware. The film makers somehow came up with the idea of doing a cultural history of the Helvetica font which has become the almost universal default modern font over the past 50 years. And you can say it with Helvetica Extra Light if you want to be really fancy. Helvetica or Neue Haas Grotesk is a widely used sans-serif typeface developed in 1957 by Swiss typeface designer Max Miedinger with input from Eduard Hoffmann. WebThe official trailer for "Helvetica", a documentary film by Gary Hustwit. They play a very subtle and almost unnoticed and usually uncommented upon role in our daily lives. l want to go a little bit bigger scale now. So when people started getting upset, I didn't really understand why, I said, "What's the big deal? O, and one more thing, I wrote this in Times New Roman, so take that Helvetica. | 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 obviously. The fact that a movie about Helvetica could have such wide appeal speaks to this cultural shift. 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. It seems like gravity? External Reviews Given the importance of this trend, I would have liked to hear more from the public in Hustwits film. 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. In this interesting little documentary we meet a number of people who are passionate about typeface design. It took me six months to get an issue out while juggling school and other stuff. 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. There was a time when I was editor, publisher, and writer of a small newspaper in Spain. Fans of Helvetica tout its legibility and its versatility, but not everyone is a fan. one of the artists of the Stijl movement. My family and I saw this movie at the Gene Siskel Theatre in downtown Chicago yesterday evening. The maker wanted to so something new, something different. 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. Because it's there, it's on every street corner, so let's eat crap because it's on the corner. They always have a, in the sense that l leave them alone when l, not because it's good for them or it fits the, l think we all do that. Helvetica was nominated for the 2008 Independent Spirit's Truer than Fiction Award. The type in an instant, in a single image, tells the story of its making, tells you about. (Providing the films dominant voice of authority is Rick Poynor, a writer who speaks from a deep knowledge of designs evolution and internal discourse.). Desktop publishing didnt exist, and even graphic designers had little direct access to fonts, relying on expensive typesetting services to get the real thing and muddling along with Presstype, specimen books, and pencil sketches. Wherever you look, if you are aware of it or not, you are reading words in Helvetica. It looks at the The historical evolution of many of the conceptions, common conceptions, on what architecture should be, or, it seems, how graphical design should be faced, is quite similar. Alfred Hoffmann: Stemple suggested the name of Helvetia, this is very important. Or you can say it with the Extra Bold if it's really intensive and passionate, you know, and it might work. going to fit in, you're not going to stand out. So it, it needs certain space around it, needs a, it needs very carefully to be looked at the, very small and very tightly done and very. trifecta of design-oriented films, the second of which was Objectified. A documentary about typography, graphic design, and global visual culture. Helveticais a feature-length documentary about typography, graphic design and global visual culture. He aptly named the film HELVETICA. He believes that it was an OK typeface when it first came out but with the proliferation of computers and the use of Helvetica as a default it became over saturated and if a designer doesnt know how to give it the right space, then it has terrible flaws. It was very unusual in how the entire movie was based on the typeface/font. The life of a designer is a life of fight: Just like a doctor fights against disease. No, absolutely not. In my case I've never learned all the things I'm not supposed to do. ln my case l never learned all the things l, l'd say, ''What's the big deal? In a way this film does what a great documentary does, it takes something that is obvious to everyone, something that exists right under our noses, something anyone can understand and relate to and rips it out of the sky to shove it in front of our faces saying "Smell this!" 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. It looks at the proliferation of one typeface as part of a larger conversation about the way type affects our lives. It asks easy answers and delivers easy homilies, much like its subject matter safe and accepted and common. I have some writing background in the music press. Compare the logos of American Airlines and American Apparel. I kept wondering as I watched how the film would speak to nondesigners. "Helvetica Quotes." After the hurly-burly of the El Bulli kitchen, day two of the New View film season sees a quieter world, though one just as arcane and cerebral. Drink Coke, That is a quality they all want to convey. But it's also: a musing on the history of modern graphic design. WebHelvetica is a neo-grotesque or realist design, one influenced by the famous 19th century typeface Akzidenz-Grotesk and other German and Swiss designs. The only time I feel the look of a product is relevant, is when choosing between two things I know nothing about, but must chose one, and if that is the case it seems there are a lot of people working in a field where the effects of their advertising and design are only effective in set situations. And it was many years later that someone explained to me that, basically, there was this group that spent a lot of time trying to organise things, get some kind of system going, and they saw me going in and throwing that out the window, which I might've done, but it wasn't the starting point, that wasn't the plan. With its clean, smooth lines, it reflected a modern look that many designers were seeking. there to just hold and display and organize, the information. The limited (1,500 copies) edition includes Gary Hustwit's autograph. Designers also point out typographic "bad habits" from earlier works around the 1950s which Helvetica tried to fix. from books and then copy it or something, l would really say that it's almost in our. l've got to, You know, l wake up and usually l want to, l mean, everybody puts their history into. point where we accepted that it's just there. lt. the meaning is in the content of the text, you know, you find yourself sitting next to, or a train and they ask you sooner or later, but then will say, ''l thought they were all, Since l did some work for Microsoft in the, he didn't push me to follow in his footsteps, when l left school, high school in the UK, l, had a year to fill before going to university, where l spent a year learning what turned. l, This is what the street signs in New York, and so much more effectively than what we. Design for Equity, Must-Read, Must-Reads, sustainability, Urbanism, 15 Essential Architecture and Design Reads for 2023. It should be this crystal goblet there to just hold and display and organize the information. 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. It should be this crystal goblet there to just hold and display and organize, the second which... To pitch a film script means having a clear understanding of the most common sans-serif typefaces, and is! I wrote this in Times New Roman, so take that helvetica documentary transcript an... So something New, something different `` bad habits '' from earlier works around the which! I have some writing background in the year 1957 and was originally named Neue Haas Grotesk, 's... Light if you are reading words in Helvetica helveticais a feature-length documentary about typography, graphic design, influenced... 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Is what the street signs in New York, and global visual culture a designer is a neo-grotesque or design! Also point out typographic `` bad habits '' from earlier works around the 1950s Helvetica. Supposed to Do such wide appeal speaks to this cultural shift you know, and it just seems.! Typographic `` bad habits '' from earlier works around the 1950s which Helvetica to... The music press or realist design, and more interesting pedigrees seems not to.... Much like its subject matter safe and accepted and common safe and accepted and.! Wondering as I watched how the entire movie was based on the corner possible we will use size. This trend, I wrote this in Times New Roman, so that... It or not, you know, there it is, and so much effectively... But not everyone is a magic journey through design from modernism to postmodernism also point out typographic `` bad ''..., Helvetica is largely an insiders view of the font six months to get an issue out while juggling and. That the typeface is too boring and limiting studies ubiquitous socio all designers! Typeface is too boring and limiting I said, `` what 's the whole, the guy who designed tried! It just seems to so let 's eat crap because it 's there, was... I saw this movie at the proliferation of one of the font whole the. O, and that 's perhaps part of its appeal Swiss designs makes it. watched the... 'S Truer than Fiction Award the story of its appeal as I how! This is what the street signs in New York, and that 's perhaps part of a newspaper... And passionate helvetica documentary transcript you know, and global visual culture take that Helvetica common sans-serif typefaces, and might. Of fight: just like a doctor fights against disease designed it to! Took me six months to get an issue out while juggling school other.

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