Helvetica

I had never watched this documentary before and I found it pretty interesting. SIDENOTE: My roommate from undergrad studied architecture and is a font snob. She talks about her font book like it is an artistic masterpiece and could save the world. Helvetica is her favorite font and anytime she can bring up talking about the font, she does. None of our friends really have an appreciation for a font the way she does so whenever she brought it up people always made fun of her for it. While watching, I texted her and asked if she had ever seen this documentary, her response was “duh.” END SIDENOTE.

I did not really think a documentary about a typeface would be entertaining at all but the different interviewees, different shots and different facts kept it interesting. The actual information about typography and the history of Helvetica was pretty neat and thought provoking. I knew that Helvetica was a very popular font and I enjoyed the different shots in the movie that were just examples of the font on different companies logos/signs.

I have been involved in branding for a few companies and events, so I have always been aware of how important a typeface is, but this documentary gave me a new perspective on it. I guess it just refreshed my thoughts on typography and what/how it communicates.

I think my favorite quotes in the documentary came from David Carson. His story was really neat in regards to the fact that he was never formally trained and how he made things that were boring/not well written in dingbats font. While talking about his work he says, “Just because something is legible doesn’t mean it communicates.” I definitely have an appreciation for his ideas, especially when he goes through and looks at the different words such as explosive or sunshine and says that they aren’t communicating what they are saying! He continues and says, “There is a very thin line between simple and clean and powerful, and simple and clean and boring.”

I also really enjoyed when Krebs and Bruni said “We aren’t as obsessed with Helvetica as we used to be…” because I think it really captures the fact that people do become obsessed with a typeface, and Helvetica is an easy one to get obsessed with. I’ll have to tell my undergrad roommate that I understand her better now.