Helvetica emerged in 1957 from Münchenstein, Switzerland, hence the name derived from the Latin word Helvetia, meaning Switzerland. During this time in the late 1950s, design in Europe started to see the revival of san serif typefaces and needed a more rational typeface. Helvetica was the new temporary typeface. Today, Helvetic is the ubiquitous font found everywhere.
Before watching the documentary, Helvetica, I was unaware of how widely used the font is. Because of the clean, readable lines Helvetica is good for everything. There are people who love the use of this font and are convinced it ‘says everything.’ Companies that use Helvetica say ‘we are a part of modern society’ and make people feel they are more assessable, transparent, and accountable. Helvetica is also known to be clean, official, and efficient and is the font used on tax forms, documents from the EPA, etc.
There are people who love Helvetica. Others don’t, including me. One critic in Helvetica said it is just there like air—since people have to breathe, you have to use Helvetica. But, Helvetica has become such a default that any logo or design that uses the font is easily forgettable. The point is brought up that the font on the Marlboro cigarettes is not plain like Helvetica and is therefore more memorable.
Since typefaces ‘give words coloring,’ is Helvetica just plain boring black? Or is it white? To us, we think that the font is what is in black. But to the Swiss, it is the negative spaces that encompass the letters. So who wants to walk around in a plain black or white world. We need to experiment with new, exciting fonts. The designers that can use a font other than Helvetica and make it work in design should be praised. When designers use Helvetica it is like they are taking the easy way. Be unique. Make us remember the logo or design. Add color to our world.