Helvetica

By Jen Brown

Name of the documentary: Helvetica

Author/Producer : Gary Hustwit

Year: 2007

Informational or promotional?: Informational

The documentary discussed the history of Helvetica. It interviewed people who are really passionate
about the font and why they love it. The movie also interviewed people who do not like Helvetica and
had them discuss why they don’t like the font.

Primary audience: Graphic Designers

What is it’s relevance to specific areas of our course

The designers use grids to help them create letters and figure out the spacing of the font. The designers
also use white space and negative space in between each letter. As one of the designers mentioned, it’s
not the letters that make the font, but the space between the letters.

How does type affect our lives?

Typeface used to express a mood, emotion or atmosphere. Helvetica, for example, can convey a neat,
clean, corporate feeling.

Notes
Fight against the ugliness, cure with design
Typography is white
-space between back that makes the type
-space between notes makes the notes
Not that many good typefaces – maybe a dozen
Type shouldn’t be expressive – according to Mario
Modern, clear type, good for everything

Helvetica
1950s
Feeling of idealism among some designers
Design part of need to rebuild, be more democratic
Emergence of international typographic style
-driven by Swiss designers
Helvetica emerges in 1957
-need for rational typefaces that can be applied to everything
-present ideas to public in legible way
Wim
-really likes modernism
-doesn’t like designers using all kinds of type faces
-should be clear, readable, straightforward
-invented a grid
-within the grid, adjusted letters/ images to create order
-began with computer in 1993
-can speed up work enormously
-used neutral typeface – Helvetica – in design
-doing away with manual details in type
-like typeface because it was neutral
-typeface shouldn’t have a meaning
-meaning is in content of text

Matthew Carter
-type designer
-start with lower case h
-serif faces have feet on top and bottom of principle stroke of letter
-then do an o
-see how curves in each letter relate to each other
-put letters into words
-reading something good judge of how type face performs
-Helvetica
-based on horizontal slicing off of terminals
-nothing really to change about the font
-said that Eduard Hoffman wanted to modernize a German sans serif
-method to clean it up
-worked together with Max Miedinger

-space between characters holds them

-letter that lives in a powerful matrix of surrounding space

Miedinger
-worked for Hoffman as salesman
-realized he could make more money in type

Bruno
-marketing director wanted to change the name
-wanted to name it the Latin name of Switzerland
-changed the ending to “ca”

After introduced, it was exactly what designers were looking for

During 1950s
-used all kinds of type faces

After 1950s
-used Helvetica
Government and Corporations
-like because it’s a neutral
-seem more accessible, transparent and accountable
-don’t have to be any of these things
-but can look that way
-used by NASA, EPA, IRS, Staples, Urban Outfitters, American Apparel, Target, National Rental Car,
American Airlines, bloomingdales, JCPenny, Sears, metLife, FIFA World Cup, the Offce, the Beatles, U2,
RunDMC, Little Miss Sunshine, Seasame Street, Crate&Barrel, Texaco,

Typeface invites open interpretation

Type designer
-should just display and organize information
-type can affect was interpret sign
-like if wrong actor was cast in a role
-still function but won’t be as effective

Eric Spiekermann
-makes words visible
- Hard to recognize some ads because all use Helvetica
-remember Marlboro ad because of the typeface

Message – way its dressed with define our reaction

If use Helvetica to sell grunge jeans, most likely see those jeans at the gap
-if use different type, probably see jeans at an underground store

Typeface of capitalism
Typeface of socialism
-available all over
-inviting everyone to create own type design

More you see it, more designer uses it, more predictable and dull signs become

Helvetica – used with so many things

-reaction from the designers against type
-need for change to break the routine

Corporate culture
-Helvetica
-looked alike
-clean

Illustrate the type

Typography could have personality the way drawing did
-had spirit and convey mood
Designers wanted to get away from the slickness of design
Wanted to produce things that had vitality

Just because something is legible doesn’t mean it can communicate

All about emotional response