“Just because something is legible doesn’t mean it communicates well.” This quote pretty much sums up what I got from this documentary. I enjoyed the film because it is always so interesting to me how I can be so oblivious to the things that I see and use every day. I never realized how much thought is put into the development and use of fonts, and how it is strategically used as a communication tool. The fact that fonts can be used to evoke emotions, shape perceptions or not evoke emotion at all is very interesting to me.
Helvetica itself has never stood out to me in particular for being such a ubiquitous part of the design world. I now can see how it is effective in communicating things clearly, particularly for its simple design. It is clean and has trickled into just about every type of company. I thought it was interesting to see the different uses for it, and how it could portray such different messages.
I also thought that it was interesting that a font could evoke such strong opinions from users. Although I was impressed with how Helvetica has implemented itself into design culture, I see the opposing point of views that the font lacks complexity and does not evoke any emotion by its use. Regardless, I will now look at fonts in a much, much different manner and I am excited to learn how to incorporate this knowledge into design techniques.
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