Album art by Stefan Sagmeister
After watching the documentary, Helvetica, I was most struck by the Anti-Helvetica designers. They all seemed to have a common thread: music. The anti-Helvetica designers, like Paula Scher and Stefan Sagmeister were originally inspired by album art. Also, in true rock and roll fashion they are anti-establishment, anti-corporation. Helvetica, to them, represents big bad corporations. I had not realized before watching the film how many companies use Helvetica. I mean, I go to Target at least once a week (or did before becoming a broke graduate student).
It was stated in the film that the sign of a good typeface is that you don’t notice it. Helvetica certainly does its job. I was surprised how many companies, brands, people use Helvetica everyday. I think watching the film was a good exercise for us n00bs to typography. Even though I majored in studio art, I’m still not very experienced with typography. I do think I relate most to the Anti-Helveticans because of my illustration background. I love the art of hand-lettering and calligraphy.