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Helvetica

Helvetica Thoughts and Opinions

“Helvetica,” is a movie on the typeface, Helvetica, and how it is seen everywhere you go. Multiple times throughout the movie a variety of artists continued to say that the font was everywhere and always being used for many different reasons. In my opinion, because of its repetitive agreement from all the artists saying how it was used so often, it got very old and boring. I appreciated the many people they interviewed to get their word across and see what they have to say about it, but in the end they said exactly the same thing as the one before did. I enjoyed the montages they brought into the film because it showed many examples and instances that Helvetica could be used for the public eye and for various other reasons such as advertising, packaging, promoting, etc. When Michael Place said “…ordinary things that people would just gloss over, I find very beautiful,” I can’t help but agree because it is always the small things in life that make someone feel comfortable and simple. This may be why they use it so often is for the simple reason for it being comfortable and safe. The film was certainly informative and opened my eyes a little more to see if there are any signs using the typeface, Helvetica.

“It’s air, you know. It’s just there. There’s no choice. You have to breathe, so you have to use Helvetica.”-Erik Spiekermann

This quote is great because of the metaphor he uses to describe the font. It is simple and easy to understand to any living, breathing human being.

The life of a designer is a life of fight: fight against the ugliness. Just like a doctor fights against disease. For us, visual disease is what have around, and what we try to do is to cure it, somehow, with design. –Massimo Vignelli

I like the way he describes organization and having less chaos just by using this font. Helvetica is neat and legible to read, so it is like trying to cure disorder with the typeface that demands order.

“You’re always a child of your time, and you cannot step out of that.” –Wim Crouwel

This quote made me think about the bigger picture and I thought it was very thought-provoking. It is very true how people are a product of their times and these artists happen to show it through their time with Helvetica and how people will grow up with it all around them for a very long time.