Cohen Netflix Watch: We can say I love you in Helvetica
Last night Val and I had a little Shrimp Remoulade and settled in to watch Helvetica, a stylish documentary about typography, culture and the influence of — and controversy surrounding — the Helvetica typeface, which turned 50 in 2007.
Yes, controversy. You see, in the world of graphic design, the ubiquitous typeface is a divider, not a uniter. It is reviled for its lack of distinction and it is lauded for its beautiful neutrality. The clean Swiss face is so deeply embraced by corporations and governments for its comforting emptiness of meaning, that many designers feel it has a disturbing authoritarian quality. Because it is so widely available that every flyer-maker can and does plaster our environment with unending strings of badly kerned Helvetica, some find it as disgusting and nutritious as a McDonald’s hamburger. Other true Helvetica believers — like Massimo Vignelli — say the typeface actually has the power to “cure the ugliness.”
The documentary — which came out on DVD in November — will be a pleasure for anyone in visual arts to watch; you’ll get to see some real design luminaries tell you where they side on the Helvetica issue and why. Plus, there’s some very cool history stuff, good music and nice cinematography. It all made Val and me nostalgic for those design-y college days, when we would ride through New Orleans naming the typefaces on the billboards and buying The Face to see what Neville Brody was doing and decorating our house with font posters and letting everything fall under the blazing eye of our Total World Design Critique.
But it is not just a movie for goofy type nerds like us, it is a 4 glioma-good documentary for any interested in art and design, 20th century history, pop culture and media.
Where do I side in the controversy? Well, unlike many, I am sympathetic with all sides. Deep down, I have a great respect for this venerable modernist face with its virtuous cleanness, its skillful construction and its versatility, but I understand that a type gourmet like Erik Spiekermann might find it tasteless, junk food, dreck.
Check it out: Here’s a link to the Helvetica web site. Here’s the DVD info in the Night Note Store. And, here’s a link to the cool “You can say I love you in Helvetica” notebook at film co-producer Veer.
And here are some interesting clips:
^ Wim Crowel: Neutralism is a word that we loved
^ Danny Van Der Dungen: Modernism has a more subversive side
^ Erik Spiekermann: Helvetica has not any of that
Janice says:
I’m glad to hear from people who care of typefaces. In the office I just moved out of we had name plates outside our offices. As people came and went, new plates had to be ordered and the result was a mish mash of typefaces. Even though one person ordered the names and one person made the plates! It drove me crazy, I pleaded for the use of the same typeface but, if that was somehow beyond their ability, at least all serif or all san sarif! It didn’t work. People would swear that they understood the difference, then order the wrong one. When I told someone I wanted something to look old fashion, inevitably, I would get modern. What can you do?
kate says:
Janice — that would drive me nuts. They’ll have to be introduced to the concept of “stopping the ugliness” — perhaps a mandatory office screening of this film?
You will be good little designers!