Ha! Yeah right.
I’ve seen Helvetica a few times before and I really enjoy it. It definitely opened my eyes to design and typography. I never realized how many companies use Helvetica for their logo. It is something we literally see every single day. I thought the film did a great job of showing how popular it is. A quote that stood out was “It’s not something you notice, but we would miss it if it weren’t there.” I think that is the perfect quote about Helvetica. It’s so common that we don’t notice it but we would be lost without it.
I thought it was also interesting that some designers are in love with Helvetica and others haaaaaaaate it. It was great to see the contrast that some think it’s one of the greatest typefaces ever and others think that it is too generic, overdone, and over rated. I didn’t know much about typefaces prior to watching Helvetica, so it was interesting to see that designers are interested in the negative space, the space trapped within the letters as opposed to the shape of the letter itself. Typefaces should serve design as much as logos or other illustrations.
I think Helvetica is a great film as an introduction to typeface design as well as graphic design in general. I’ve also enjoyed Gary Hustwit’s other films, Objectified and Urbanized, are good as well.