I remember watching “Helvetica” in one of my media art classes at JMU. I was probably one of the only people that liked the movie then and probably one of the only people who enjoyed it again now. Yes, in case you haven’t noticed it by now, I’m pretty nerdy. I thought it was very intriguing to learn about fonts, how they are designed and how Helvetica has become so commonplace in society. As seen in the montage Helvetica font is everywhere; Gap, Target, NBC’s “The Office”, Toyota, Saab, Oral B, Staples, American Apparel so on and so forth. The font leaves room for interpretation of the meaning of the message it is trying to convey. In the film there was the example where Helvetica used by/with American Apparel looks cheeky but when used on American Airlines it looks clean.
Helvetica is uncontaminated and open for interpretation of the message because it is not a distracting font.
Designed by a Swiss typographer, it is probably fitting that this is a “neutral” font.
But while the film pointed out the beauty of the cleanness and neutrality of the font, other interviewees shared their dislike for such a neutral font and how it has become perhaps stale due to is everyday use. Erik Spiekermann, a German typographer and designer, humorously said that this typeface was not unique like people but it was the same like an army. To be honest, though I did enjoy him, it seemed like he had more of a dislike for the Swiss than the font.
Shifting back to the topic, David Carson a graphic designer, said that, “Just because it is legible doesn’t mean it communicates.” And to a certain extent I would agree, I feel that in some cases using a different font can help to convey a message further. I kind of think that he views font more of an art form that is a medium for a message where as the designer of the Helvetica font probably saw the font as a medium for interpretation of the text and not the typeface.
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