According to one typeface designer all of the troubles of the world could be linked to Helvetica. No not Hitler, Saddam or even Bin Laden, but Helvetica. A font. Before Friday afternoon, if you told me that their exists a movie about typeface I would not have believed it; yes it exists and it’s named “Helvetica”.
"Helvetica"
I don’t think about fonts. It’s not something that I really notice in my day-to-day life. It’s just not important to me and I certainly don’t think that it could start a war (or two for that matter). But it is VERY important to the designers of font in this movie. I just could not understand where all of the passion was coming from regarding a font. One designer even stated that there are some people who like looking at women’s bottoms but his vice was Helvetica. It’s a font. The man gets excited about a font?
All of these various typeface designers were interviewed from Europe and The United States and they all exhibited the same enthusiasm regarding Helvetica; some of that enthusiasm was disdain but for the most part everyone was on Team Helvetica. Really? Who are these people? I hate to sound judgmental but I just don’t get it. I wish I could say that after watching this movie that I have a new found appreciation for fonts; actually, I don’t wish that I could say that.
I commend Gary Hustwit for a well-shot and throughly researched documentary, though I did not find the subject matter very interesting.