Even before, we can never deny the fact that typography is with us in our daily life. It is hard to foresee that we can live in this world without it for it is one way of establishing a communication. And one of the renown typefaces in the society is the Helvetica. This is what the independent documentary film Helvetica is all about. The said movie shows the typography world, graphic designs and the global visual culture that somehow tend to be unnoticed by many. It illustrates the beginning of the Helvetica and the evolution happened as it became the face of modernism.
In the movie, they documented the history of Helvetica. In 1957, Neue Haas Grotesk was the name of this face. But for marketable purpose, it was initially suggested that the typeface be called 'Helvetia' which is the original Latin name for Switzerland Münchenstein , Switzerland and today it is under the property of the Linotype in Bad Homburg Germany
Personally I agree that this typeface was known for its clear type, straight forward, modern type and generated with desire or for better visibility. These were also the reasons of many graphic designers why they love and chose the Helvetica face in their designs. It is to be noted that this face really brings the neutrality of any word. Basing to what Rick Poynor said, Helvetica aroused through the real feeling of idealism among some designers after seeking for rational typefaces which could be applied to all contemporary information whether in sign system or corporate identity. They rebuild and reform styles after the war in 1950’s and present those visual expression of the modern world to the public in intelligible and eligible way. I learned through Massimo Vignelli that the head of sensitivity of a quote is not between the distance of letters but rather the spaces of the black that really makes it. Also the letter “H” is the base of every letters made as what Matthew Carter, son of Harry Carter said. He added that Helvetica has a horizontal terminal which makes the general characteristic of it.
In this film, they really interviewed many famous graphic designers who in their own way, used and developed the Helvetica face. I liked the way these designers appreciated and perceived the form and style of Helvetica. As what all of them said, Helvetica has a style itself. It run smoothly and brings almost the perfect balance they want. Leslie Savan, a media writer said that the government and corporations love Helvetica because on one hand it seems to be neutral and efficient. And the smoothness of the letters of the face also makes the government seems transparent, accessible, and accountable the way they must look. Thus, Helvetica creates a big impact to everyone. It is already in the culture and you ca never just dump it for it is everywhere. I realized that Helvetica really touches every advertising industry because almost all of the big companies and establishments even those small ones used the Helvetica face. They consider it as the starting point of their businesses because it will then be the basis of the people if they will adopt such products as the way they presented it to them through the attractive styles and designs.
But I can say that somehow Helvetica is boring without designs on it like the size and color especially in magazines. Because I can’t imagine the words in the street and reading materials with the same dull letters. So it is still necessary that a graphic designer would add some twist on the Helvetica letters if printed. Even Rick Poynor and other designers agreed that blending of some effects somehow is more attractive like what Stefan Sagmeister did. Because designers wanted to express their subjectivity and feelings through the design they make. It is essential to bring life to every letters because I also believe that typography can have personality the way you drawn it. It somehow shows who you really are based on the type you choose. As what Paula Scher said, she realized that the typefaces has a spirit that can convey movement and could be your own medium. Letters speaks different way and I agree to Manuel Krebs that Helvetica contains a design program that will lead you to a certain language.
Thus, it really make sense to know and observe how things were made. Like the typography, it may be very unnoticeable for many but if we weigh the importance of it in our life, we can conclude that this gives affluence to us. It allows us to understand easily the things wanted to be conveyed by anyone. And the Helvetica movie really showed credit to typefaces especially to Helvetica face itself for all its benefits to us. Through this film, I realized that it is never been easy to create and apply any typeface particularly if you think of how it will be adopted by everyone. You should always set considerations in making it. But for sure, like Helvetica, people will learn to take it as part of the culture and it will never be vanished.
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