Helvetica

Well, that  was definitely one of the more unique videos I have ever watched. I have definitely never spent that much time thinking about font type (which may sound odd coming from a former newspaper editor) and it was interesting to look into the minds of the people who come up with the fonts we see so often that we take it for granted.

I will say though, these people like fonts. Like, REALLY like fonts. Or dislike it, depending on who you ask. I know people could get emotional over sports rivalries, such as UNC-Duke, Ohio State-Michigan and Yankees-Red Sox, but had no idea such feelings were felt in the Helvetica debate.

For example, Paula Scher claims to be “morally opposed” to Helvetica, that it shows support for the Vietnam and Iraqi Wars. How exactly a font choice is a political statement is beyond me, but it shows how seriously some people take font type.

I also enjoyed seeing how such seemingly small changes to a single letter could change an entire font, and the painstaking work it takes to make such fonts. Much like the video we watched in boot camp on the making of John Mayer’s album cover, you never fully appreciate the fine art of such things until you see it up close and personal.

Unlike seemingly everyone else, I do not completely, totally and utterly despise Comic Sans. Perhaps because it brings back memories of when Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert wrote a letter to his fans after LeBron James ditched him for the Miami Heat, which of course then backfired in his face completely when he promised the Cavs would win an NBA title before LeBron did in Miami (that’s gone well, hasn’t it?). For a link to said letter, go here: http://www.nba.com/cavaliers/news/gilbert_letter_100708.html.

Anyway, moral of the story, it was an intriguing look into fonts and font type. Granted, I feel it was a bit long and could’ve been cut differently, but that’s another discussion for a video class. After seeing this video, I will definitely think twice about which font I use in the future.