Helvetica

What could be more boring than a documentary about fonts? If it was about the minutiae that only a type designer could understand, than yes it would be quite boring. But what if it was about the font that is so ubiquitous in our visual culture that some designers consider it the type equivalent to air?

Helvetica, a documentary released by Red Envelope (Netflix's distribution company) focus on the creation, usage, praise and rejection of Helvetica, the ever present san-serif that can be seen in the logos for countless corporations and brands. Watch this movie alone just to get a kick out of the fact that Target, American Airlines, Crate and Barrel, the Gap, the IRS, EPA, the NYC Subway and countless other governments, corporations and designers are using the exact same font.

Why?

Because it works. One of the most interesting things I heard was one designer saying that some fonts only make you feel one way. They are overly designed to communicate only one emotion, but the success of Helvetica is its universal nature and in essence can communicate anything you want to. From clean, comforting design to crushing bureaucracies, it has been used to communicate and helped usher in a new age of modernism and simplicity in design.

One of the most interesting parts was on the rejection of Helvetica. Some dismissed it as simply boring, while Paula Scher saw Helvetica as a supporter of the Vietnam and Iraq war. An image of corporate conformity that strangles creativity.

But then again, the film shows that ironically, corporate conformity is only one of its uses. Its a blank slate that can be shifted and molded to fit whatever message people have. As I find myself more interested in design this was truly an eye opening film. To watch this then go out on the street, it's as if you're looking a the world with a completely different set of eyes.