Helvetica

Since starting uni, the word Helvetica has relentlessly popped up. If I’m being honest I had never heard of that word or had any idea what it even meant… almost 2 years have passed now and it’s inescapable.

Now after watching the film about the typeface, it appears it’s more unavoidable than I thought. I originally thought the film would just be a bunch of designers sharing Helvetica’s sheer brilliance and superiority, but was pleasantly surprised at certain designer’s true feelings about the type and even the history of it. I was firstly surprised at the whole process of creating the typeface. I had no idea how much effort and energy went into its construction. How it had several names before Helvetica and how numerous alterations were made to perfect it, such as the “y” originally being too slim.

What fascinated me the most though was specific designers reaction to the typeface. Michael Bierut gave a very personal and meaningful account of his hatred towards 50’s design, specifically adverts in magazines. Flicking through a 50’s magazine, he pointed out the frequent aspects which he clearly disliked, and then showed a Coke advert which used Helvetica. His delight was adamant at the use of Helvetica. He felt nothing could improve the combination of the cold, refreshing coke and the use of Helvetica. Many designers felt that Helvetica was neutral, and was almost like air and anything after it would be secondary. Other designers though gave interesting versions of their love of it technically. Matthew Carter expressed his joy of the technicality of it and how it was near perfect. He stated the fact that certain letters like the “c” had horizontal endings instead of the obvious slight diagonal ends was unique and a delight.

Eric Spiekerman I found particularly funny when he included his pure pleasure for typefaces. Even though he finds Helvetica rather dull, he felt his desire for certain types was like looking at “girl’s bottoms.” It was funny how he recognised this and announced that it worried him. He and David Carson are designers’ I’d like to know a bit more about. Their views were interesting and similar to my own, how Spiekerman would not fixate and obsess over a new font, instead he would simply just go back to bed. Carson has fascinating beliefs in how he would immerse himself into music to fully appreciate it and discover ways to connect this to the album artwork design.

After watching the film I’ve realised the potential, yet also the ordinariness of Helvetica. I agree with how it invites an open interpretation. An example given was how it adds certain cheekiness when used for American Apparel, and how it works when saying both “I love you” and “I hate you”. I can also recognise how it may have become overworked and commonplace, although appreciate how when used it can add a certain worth to a design and simply make it look better.

I personally have never had a connection with Helvetica as I only caught on to it within the last couple of years. Recently though I’ve understood it as a “safe” font, and when unsure what to use stick with the good old trusty Helvetica, even while knowing pretty much nothing about it. I guess now I should try to stray away from such fonts and in away explore newer ones, and similarly to David Carson and Vaughan Oliver, immerse myself into the design and use fonts which communicate the desired role. (But we shall see how long this lasts …)