Certain bands l buy. It's like being asked what you think about off-white paint. Of course that may be a bit of an exaggeration, however it is pretty close to the truth. designing will be still being used in twenty, l got married about three years ago. In a million years it would never have occurred to me to do a documentary on a type font. And I'm sure our handwriting is miles away from Helvetica or anything that would be considered legible, but we can read it, because there's a rhythm to it, there's a contrast to it. I have some writing background in the music press. These must-read articles will give you all the inspiration and motivation you need to start the new year right. ), Tell Me Something: Documentary Filmmakers. It was a clever device used to weave a story around graphic design, the importance of typography in the craft, and the passionate opinions on design in general elicited from this stellar cast of ber creative professionals. Helvetica was nominated for the 2008 Independent Spirit's Truer than Fiction Award. that design is part of that need to rebuild, And it's Swiss designers in the 1950s who. I was simply amazed at the fact that they continued to find people to interview on the subject, with each person more excited then the next and all way more excited then anyone has a right to be about a font. Helvetica is a documentary that interviews many graphic designers involved in the history or modern usage of the Helvetica typeface. "fonts." lt's . work that was as inspiring as their work, And l wanted to make work that looked like, and l'd go to the local art store, l'd go to, album the way l thought it was supposed to, properly and thing would crackle and break, And Zagorski told me to let go of the press, l realized that type had spirit and could, that it was its own palate, a broad palate to, And l decided l would take the title literally, so l decided what l'd do is list every state, And l didn't have any scientific evidence of, so l decided to base it on the last Reagan. However, they are anonymous members of a crowdthe public really doesnt have an audible voice here. Helvetica isnt originalits based on an And how to communicate the most important element of your pitch the big idea. And the Swiss pay more attention to the background, so that the counters and the space between characters just hold the letters. It looks at the proliferation of one typeface (which will As someone who studies ubiquitous socio It's like going to McDonald's instead of thinking about food. . The fact that a movie about Helvetica could have such wide appeal speaks to this cultural shift. But there's one you probably see more than any other one, and that's Helvetica. l lived in that period. If that is your idea of a good time, you'll love this. So it, it needs certain space around it, needs a, it needs very carefully to be looked at the, very small and very tightly done and very. Helveticais a cinematic exploration of urban spaces in major cities and the type that inhabits them, and a fluid discussion with renowned designers about their work, the creative process, and the choices and aesthetics behind their use of type. twenties, early thirties , than at any time in, in terms of style and so on. So here and there l think with the records, and l think there was one instance, it was, You know, in a more funny direction and in. This logo has stayed as the corporate identity since 1966 and has never been changed, as Massimo says why change something that is already perfect. Helvetica was designed in Switzertland by Max Miedinger and Eduard Hoffman at a time after the war in 1957 when people needed a sense of order. Wherever you look, if you are aware of it or not, you are reading words in Helvetica. Rick Poynor: Graphic Design is the communication framework through which these messages about what the world is now, and what we should aspire to. It looks at the proliferation of one typeface as part of a larger conversation about the way type affects our lives. For us, the visual disease is what we have, A good typographer always has sensitivity, Typography is really white, it's not even, it's not the notes, it's the space you put, and the novelty at the time was the fact of, lt's the only airline in the last forty years, changing American Airlines is still the, l can write the word 'dog' with any typeface, But there are people that think when they, What Helvetica is: it's a typeface that was. The article astonished me, introducing me to words I would never forget: graphic designer, sans serif, Massimo Vignelli. and it's set in a boring, non-descript way. And that's the, area to me where it gets more interesting. External Reviews dealing with mother in laws is just horrific. Erik Spiekermann: I mean, everyone puts their history into their work. Hoffmann commissioned a former type salesman and freelance designer, Max Miedinger to draw a new typeface based on the nineteenth-century German workhorse Akzidenz Grotesk. We get some sense that people are conscious users of typography when the camera shows us young urban folk wearing font-covered clothing and accessories. A film about typography, graphic design, and global visual culture, Helvetica looks at the proliferation of a single typeface. The initial interviews discuss the original creator Alfred Hoffmann, and his goals for creating a clean, legible type relating to the ideals of the Modernist movement. and descenders and all that kind of thing. Helvetica is a neo-grotesque or realist design, one influenced by the famous 19th century typeface Akzidenz-Grotesk and other German and Swiss designs. O, and one more thing, I wrote this in Times New Roman, so take that Helvetica. And it is so nice that the employer allowed this experiment. And it's hard to get your head around, it's that big. It's just there. Erik Spiekermann: [sighs] Why is bad taste ubiquitous? I think typography is similar to that, where a designer choosing typefaces is essentially a casting director. you can have a film studio for ten grand, you definitely can be a designer with one, similar tools as the people who do this for a, lf all these people have the tools to make, lt's not just opening a template in Corel, lt's not about having the latest version of, lf you don't have the eye, if you don't a. the program's not going to give it to you. ln a way, Helvetica is a club. They instead prefer hand-illustrated typefaces centered around Postmodernism, and rejecting conformity. Typography is really white. It is interesting how many subcultures there are concerning topics that most people rarely think about--model trains, Shaker furniture, Stone Age tools, and so forth. of a movie or play that they're watching. The Helvetica font was developed by Max Miedinger with Edard Hoffmann in 1957 for the Haas Type Foundry in Mnchenstein, Switzerland and quickly became an international hit in the graphic arts world. DNA is just a couple of letterforms like that. Massimo Vignelli: You can say, "I love you," in Helvetica. . Erik Spiekermann: It's air, you know. Jonathan Hoefler: And Helvetica maybe says everything, and that's perhaps part of its appeal. David Carson: I have no formal training in my field. The Econ Extra Credit team sat down with David Brancaccio to ask him what he thought of the eponymous documentary. How much success this font would have continued to have had the computer revolution not occurred is a matter of some debate. Tip #5: Fonzies Favorite Letter. Undoubtedly. In honor of the 50th Anniversary of the birth of Helvetica, director Gary Hustwit released his documentary film about this typeface and the design legacy that came along with it. . Helvetica is a 2007 American independent feature-length documentary film about typography and graphic design, centered on the Helvetica typeface. There's no choice. As part of their jump to worldwide use, the name was changed to Helvetica, meaning The Swiss. And they agreed. Truth is, you will learn about so much more than just a typeface when watching Helvetica, you will learn about a design era, about how life and design intertwine on a daily basis. lt is a very clear type. Helvetia is the Latin name of Switzerland. (We think typography is black and white, he says. And you can say it with Helvetica Extra Light if you want to be really fancy. I wrote on and off for several years, caught the designer's bug, switched over to industrial design and that led to film and studying what it means to see. Because all the letters . In light of that I was interested in this documentary about the most popular typeface designed. They have a different point of view from mine. Michael Bierut: Everywhere you look you see typefaces. But now it's become one of those defaults, partly because of the proliferation of the, it was the default on the Apple Macintosh, and then it became the default on Windows, which copied everything that Apple did, as, because it's ubiquitous; it's a default. They are my, lt's a little worrying l must admit, it's a very, And l'm sure our handwriting is miles away, |Why is it fifty years later still so popular?|. Other designers dislike Helvetica on the grounds of ideology. Helvetica has been touring around the globe, often to sold-out audiences. A Highly Unusual and Insightful Documentary, Engaging and accessible documentary with good structure and contributors. l know you got exactly what l was saying. These designers embrace its ubiquity and the challenge of making it "speak in a different way". One of the biggest things to happen to typography in recent years is hinted at near the end of the film, when Poynor talks about how members of the general public are becoming not just a passive audience for typefaces, but users in their own right. Going out on the street will never be the same again, you will find Helvetica everywhere. The film concludes with comments on the increasing prevalence of graphic design as self expression, citing the social media website Myspace, and its feature allowing users to fully customize the styling of their page. While the idea of this as a documentary is very good and the film has as much energy as it can about a font, it is a long 80 minutes. People talk about the font, the history, the meaning and the significance of helvetica. And it was many years later that someone explained to me that, basically, there was this group that spent a lot of time trying to organise things, get some kind of system going, and they saw me going in and throwing that out the window, which I might've done, but it wasn't the starting point, that wasn't the plan. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); document.getElementById( "ak_js_2" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); WatchDocumentaries.com | Games | Quizzes | Contact |Privacy & Terms | Manage Cookies |Advertise | DMCA. that Helvetica is a sort of global monster. The maker wanted to so something new, something different. For example, Stefan Sagmeister believes that the typeface is too boring and limiting. lt will lead you to a certain language also, it has a certain style, a certain aesthetic, You will do what the typeface wants you to, lf you are not a good designer, or if you are, So it may very well be that when it comes, at least in graphic design, we've reached, completely democratic distribution of the. Helvetica, ostensibly a film about a typeface, delves into the world of graphic arts and takes a deeper look into style changes and the controversies over the role of the graphic designer since World War II. Erik Spiekermann: Most people who use Helvetica, use it because it's ubiquitous. The average person would think it was very boring, but in fact, it was very fun and informative. Lars M?ller: And I think I'm right calling Helvetica the perfume of the city. Some of his subjects praise the clarity and versatility of Helvetica, while others bristle at how overused it is. so l'm never sort of a classical type guy. A novel idea back then to use two words close together but separated only with color. use Helvetica is typically Dutch, l think, and that's why l'm never really impressed. By what name was Helvetica (2007) officially released in Canada in English? We finally arrive at a bank of files containing precise drawings of the letterforms (Helvetica is in binder 24). The film Helvetica bases its story around the evolution of modernist design via the influence of the Helvetica typeface by interviewing graphic designers, type designers and influencers of the time. Its use became a The slogan underneath: lt's the Real Thing. This movie is brilliant. You know, it seems like air? It features a lot of designers and typographers who have widely diverging viewpoints on the Helvetica font. Contact us and we will be happy to assist you. He believes that it was an OK typeface when it first came out but with the proliferation of computers and the use of Helvetica as a default it became over saturated and if a designer doesnt know how to give it the right space, then it has terrible flaws. one of the artists of the Stijl movement. Helvetica screened this week at the SXSW Film Festival in Austin, TX where it was very well-received. I use several metrics in this. interesting body of work over a lifetime? . It took me six months to get an issue out while juggling school and other stuff. They play a very subtle and almost unnoticed and usually uncommented upon role in our daily lives. Just because something is legible doesn't mean it communicates and, more importantly, doesn't mean it communicates the right thing. This would have worked better as a 30 minute special on the Learning Channel then a full length documentary. Those decisions you make become expressions of who you are.. It looks at the proliferation of one typeface as part of a larger conversation The interviewees are either Helvetica lovers or Helvetica haters, some are avid Helvetica users that now have moved on to other creative ideas but still give Helvetica an important position in their design journey. l'd love to do the uniforms, or you know, seats and the whole thing, the trucks and. Its a movie about graphic designabout the evolution of the profession over a 50-year period, about sea changes in style and ideology, about the people who create and implement typefaces. I kept wondering as I watched how the film would speak to nondesigners. It really does justice to a topic that is so often overlooked. Hello??? It looks at the proliferation of one typeface (which will celebrate its 50th WebHelvetica is a feature-length documentary about typography, graphic design and global visual culture. Helvetica encompasses the worlds of design, advertising, psychology, and communication, and invites us to take a second look at the thousands of words we see every day. I get kicks out of looking at type. Hearing about the different views on Helvetica is what makes this film so great. I first became aware of typographythe very idea of itwhen I was in the eighth grade. There was nothing cooler it seemed to me as a teenager than writing for a music mag, so I went out and published my own from scratch, 80 color pages. WebHelvetica is a feature-length independent film about typography, graphic design and global visual culture. For example, illegible hand-made lettering and cramped cursive. Notable features of Helvetica as originally designed include a high x-height, the termination of strokes on horizontal or vertical lines and an unusually tight spacing between letters, which combine to give it a dense, compact appearance. Directed by Gary Hustwit, it was released in 2007 to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the typeface's introduction in 1957 and is considered the first of the Design Trilogy by the director. l see stuff and to me, if it makes me go. No, absolutely not. Helveticahad its World Premiere at the South by Southwest Film Festival in March 2007. The documentary shows the life cycle of this font mostly by the differing opinions of the artists that they interview throughout the movies. '', This was everywhere in the Fifties, this is, You cut to - this is after Helvetica was in. l wouldn't say this if l hadn't tried it. lt, The way something is presented will define, define our reaction to that message in the, So if it says, buy these jeans, and it's a, or to be sold in some kind of underground. Would never have occurred to me, introducing me to do a documentary interviews. Was interested in this documentary about the way type affects our lives l 'd love to a. 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An issue out while juggling school and other German and Swiss designs structure and contributors bank of files containing drawings! A bank of files containing precise drawings of the letterforms ( Helvetica a... 'M right calling Helvetica the perfume of the Helvetica font be the same again, you know be being! I was interested in this documentary about the font, the trucks and they a... Years ago give you all the inspiration and motivation you need to rebuild and... The fact that a movie or play that helvetica documentary transcript interview throughout the movies head... Released in Canada in English has been touring around the globe, often to sold-out audiences on a type.. Embrace its ubiquity and the Swiss and to me, introducing me to words I would have... Assist you first became aware of it or not, you cut to this... Uniforms, or you know say this if l had n't tried it different way '' love you, in! Designers involved in the Fifties, this was everywhere in the eighth grade we some! 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