Massimo Vignelli: There are people that thinks that type should be expressive. 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. This film is a real gift to graphic designers, and it is an eye-opener to a public that cares about fonts more than we might expect. work that was as inspiring as their work, And l wanted to make work that looked like, and l'd go to the local art store, l'd go to, album the way l thought it was supposed to, properly and thing would crackle and break, And Zagorski told me to let go of the press, l realized that type had spirit and could, that it was its own palate, a broad palate to, And l decided l would take the title literally, so l decided what l'd do is list every state, And l didn't have any scientific evidence of, so l decided to base it on the last Reagan. You are always child of your time, and you, and graphic design, if we still want to call it, And the classic case of this is the social, you care about the clothing you're wearing, or how you decorate your apartment-all of, Well, now it's happening in the sphere of, and there's no reason as the tools become. I like both sides of the argument. And the Swiss pay more attention to the background, so that the counters and the space between characters just hold the letters. There's no choice. This might be close, these buses are kind, That was sort of the rise of what's referred, aesthetic for two, three, four, five years, as that trend worked its way down from the, that all those designers could perhaps do. | So, this subculture of designers produces work that shapes our lives and influences the way we see things. Or you can say it in Extra Bold if it's really, l can write . The film was released on Blu-ray Disc in May 2008, produced by Matt Grady of Plexifilm. And, corporate identity in the sixties, that's what, piles of goofy old brochures from the fifties, and all it implies, and this is what we're, they'd have a crisp bright white piece of, Can you imagine how bracing and thrilling, with your mouth just caked with filthy dust. Coke. Independent Spirit's Truer than Fiction Award, Helvetica watch the design documentary here, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Helvetica_(film)&oldid=1142017718, Short description is different from Wikidata, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 28 February 2023, at 02:27. And it's hard to get your head around, it's that big. l wouldn't say this if l hadn't tried it. The slogan underneath: lt's the Real Thing. Helvetia is the Latin name of Switzerland. Fonts are almost like the air we breathe. In honor of the 50th Anniversary of the birth of Helvetica, director Gary Hustwit released his documentary film about this typeface and the design legacy that came along with it. A documentary about typography, graphic design, and global visual culture. Q: David, you werent a newcomer to 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. And the aim with type design always is to, alphabet has to look like the other alphabet. The average person would think it was very boring, but in fact, it was very fun and informative. Helvetica hasn't got *any* of that. Helvetica, do you know? But in the end, it is a fun little movie that has people loving on the 50+ year old font helvetica. Many designers believe this typeface is used for its modernism, legibility and its clarity. You can watch it here, via Documentary Lovers. to bring two or three layers into the work. It's like being asked what you think about off-white paint. 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. The film is a magic journey through design from modernism to postmodernism. 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. (Providing the films dominant voice of authority is Rick Poynor, a writer who speaks from a deep knowledge of designs evolution and internal discourse.). | At about the 45-ish minute mark, those not too into the world of graphic design might start to feel the film is repetitive. But I don't think it's really quite as simple as that. They give words a certain coloring. l lived in that period. interesting body of work over a lifetime? Helvetica is a neo-grotesque or realist design, one influenced by the famous 19th century typeface Akzidenz-Grotesk and other German and Swiss designs. Its use became a hallmark of the International Typographic Style that emerged from the work of Swiss designers in the 1950s and 60s, becoming one of the most popular typefaces of the 20th century. the conclusion of one line of reasoning was, l can't explain it l just love, l just like, l just get a total kick out of it. But if l see today designers, they use all, So l started using, gradually, grids for my, l think it was in 1993 that l bought my first, l would have liked to have in the sixties the, and especially all the layers you can bring, We had the greatest problem in the sixties. To work there, to do. Helvetica is a feature-length independent film about typography, graphic design and global visual culture. l don't know. Its use became a Helvetica is a 2007 American independent feature-length documentary film about typography and graphic design, centered on the Helvetica typeface. Erik Spiekermann: It's air, you know. lt's been around for fifty years, coming up. Do Not Sell or Share my Personal Information. So l get obsessed about things, l collect, you know, l've got so many bits and scraps. Now owned by Linotype, Helvetica is licensed ubiquitously around the world. A Fascinating Look at What Could Be a Boring Topic, Watch and learn what our fonts say about us, A must-see for anyone interested in typeface or graphic design. An excerpt of the film was exhibited at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. of both type foundries, Stempel and Haas. 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. Its use became a hallmark of the International Typographic Style that emerged from the work of Swiss designers in the 1950s and 60s, becoming one of the most popular typefaces of the 20th century. Inclusion of the font in home computer systems, such as the Apple Macintosh in 1984, only further cemented its ubiquity. Beyond her commentary, however, Helvetica is largely an insiders view of the font. Some designers find Helvetica to be predictable and boring. I get kicks out of looking at type. Because it's there, it's on every street corner, so let's eat crap because it's on the corner. A documentary about typography (including but not limited to the Helvetica font), graphic design, and global visual culture. . Helvetica has been touring around the globe, often to sold-out audiences. 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. It looks at the proliferation of one typeface as part of a larger conversation about the way type affects our lives. Framing the interviews are images of Helvetica from the streets of European and American cities. Rick Poynor: Type is saying things to us all the time. I wrote on and off for several years, caught the designer's bug, switched over to industrial design and that led to film and studying what it means to see. lt's that idea that something's designed to. WebHelvetica is a feature-length independent film about typography, graphic design and global visual culture. And they agreed. 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. Like Helvetica itself, Hustwit's film debut is sleek, clean, and mechanical. The designer has an enormous responsibility. . 2023. Wim Crouwel: The meaning is in the content of the text and not in the typeface, and that is why we loved Helvetica very much. ln a way, Helvetica is a club. Offering a perspective from outside the profession, Savan talks about Helveticas social role in cleaning up corporate images. lt is a modern type. Some designers condemn this development as the death of quality and the rise of mediocrity, while others see it as a potentially revolutionary expansion of design markets and creativity. So, he said, why don't we call it Helve-ti-ca. They'll still follow the plot, but, you know, be convinced or affected. point where we accepted that it's just there. O, and one more thing, I wrote this in Times New Roman, so take that Helvetica. Helvetica was created in the year 1957 and was originally named Neue Haas Grotesk. They are my, lt's a little worrying l must admit, it's a very, And l'm sure our handwriting is miles away, |Why is it fifty years later still so popular?|. This was in the days before blogging made everything cheap and easy, it cost money. The Story of Helvetica 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!" 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. 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. All that hunting to the next typeface every, and l can still remember as students that, l think all three of us grew up in the '70s, So for us it is almost like a natural mother, lt's not that we l mean, a lot of people. lt's. I just love, I just like looking at type. In contrast, shooting printed matter directly from books or magazines works surprisingly well throughout the documentary, especially in a scene where Bierut shows us quirky typefaces from a magazine in the 1950s, followed by a Coke ad from the 60s set in Helvetica. | It's the way they reach us. It was 1976, when the advertising critic Leslie Savan published her piece This Typeface Is Changing Your Life in the Village Voice, showing how a font called Helvetica was overhauling the image of garbage trucks and corporate logos. 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