Helvetica Movie Response
Would you use Helvetica in your designs?
I would use Helvetica in my designs, but not for main text. I am someone who gravities toward expressive typefaces and I don’t necessarily see that within Helvetica. I do understand that type cannot always be expressive (needs to be legible, sometimes a design calls for a simple typeface, etc) but I would probably explore every option before I land on Helvetica. If I had a brief that called for the designs to scream ‘modern’ or ‘clean’ then I would keep Helvetica in the back of my mind but overall, I would only use it if I needed too but it would be my last option.
Would you use Helvetica for one context (type of work/audience) but not another?
I would use Helvetica for formal designs. The font itself I pair with ones such as Arial which are defaults when work needs to be void of personality and just relay information. I would not use Helvetica for designs that require to be fun and inviting, because it is so prevalent in everyday life when someone see’s the typeface sub-curiously, they aren’t going to be interested and probably associate it with it being boring.
Points in the documentary that spoke to me.
Massino Vigmill
“We believe there are not that many good typefaces, you know?… If I’m being generous there are a dozen, I use no more than three.” (0:05:20)
“There are some people that think type should be expressive… I don’t think type should be expressive at all” (0:05:34)
- I do not agree with this statement like at all, I of course am not at the same status as him, but personally I disagree. There for sure needs to a balance of legibility, expression, and it working for a design not it just being there to be there, however if all type lacked expression we would be living in a very boring world of design. This point of view sometimes bothers me, I think some people treat design as souly a science and ignore the art aspect. Because of this sometimes these people can come off as arrogant as they disregard any other form of design because they believe their option is fact.
Wim Crouwel
“Creating order is typography” (0:10:34)
“Neutral, more neutral… it shouldn’t have a meaning in itself… The meaning is in the content of the text” (0:12:28)
- I agree and disagree with this statement all my points from before carrying over to here however I can learn a lot from this. I’m heavy handed when it comes to design and sometimes needs to remember that we have the power of text in designs and can explicitly tell the audience things, not everything has to be abstract. Overall, I have neutral feelings toward this statement.
Matthew Carter
“They just seem to be exactly right… I’m glad no one asked me too second guess Helvetica because I wouldn’t know what to do” (0:17:22)
- So far it seems like Helvetica is being carried as this perfect god like typeface, I understand the significance and history but it’s very surprising to me that this is the hill people are willing to die on.
Leslie Sarvan
“Governments and corporations love Helvetica because it makes them look neutral and efficient”
- This quote really confirmed to me that I don’t really have strong opinions on the typeface. If the government is using the typeface to seem neutral that tells me that the typeface is truly a basic (in terms of visuals) typeface that I (for lack of better words) don’t care about.
Tobias Frere-Jones
“The sort of classical modernist line on how aware should one be of a typeface is that one shouldn’t be aware of it all it should be this crystal goblet you know there to just hold and display and organize the information… I don’t think it’s quite as simple as that even if they’re not consciously aware of the typeface their reading, they’ll surely be affected by it. The same way an actor who is miscast… They’ll still follow the plot but be less convinced” (0:31:24)
- When I heard this, it felt like a breath of fresh air. I think this is what I was trying to convey above in response to Massimo Vigell. Yes, type shouldn’t overshadow the legibility of type, etc BUT I think sometimes people can overlook how much people care about fun. Maybe it’s just a Gen Z thing but I feel like people are starting to revolt against the idea of perfectionism / minimalism and are valuing expression over “perfect” even if something is messy and technically “bad.” Tobias sums up perfectly why I personality would avoid using Helvetica as a first choice.
Jonathan Hoefler
“The fact that it’s been so heavily licensed, and made available through these very populists technologies and kind of furthered the mythology that it’s the ultimate typeface in some way. And even us professionals it’s kind of hard to escape from. I sort of find myself buying into the idea that “Oh, the sans serif evolved for a hundred years, and the ultimate expression was Helvetica” and realising wait a minute that not quite true historically aesthetically or culturally or politically… But there is something about it that does have that feeling of finality to it” (0:33:09)
- This quote further proves my point from above. I think I got a sense of hierarchy in the design world where some people said “this is the best type” so people believed them even if they didn’t like the typeface because “technically” it was the best typeface.
FINAL STATEMENT
I could go on and on about the film so I will sum up my opinions. I don’t think Helvetica is a bad typeface but because of its history and it’s context of being mainly used by governments and corporations I now view it as “default” / “basic” it’s not bad and would work well for designs that need clean cut clear visuals but that’s just not my type of design, I lean more toward organic messy type, and design overall that is more expressive and experimental. I envision myself making designs that are more on the artsy side, abstract, experimental, etc. So finally, I just have to say I don’t think Helvetica is bad, but it does oppose where my design comes from and the type of design I want to create.
Quotes that support my final statement
- “The more you see it… The more the designer uses those typographic and graphic solutions the more familiar, predictable, and ultimately dull they become” - Rick Ponyar (0:44:25)
- “I find people only using 3-4 typefaces very suspect… could be interesting for a single project… but as a strategy over a lifetime… I think it’s akin to a writer saying "I’m only going to write using 3-4 words”“ - Stefen Segmuister (0:53:11)
- "Don’t confuse legibility with communication, just because something is legible doesn’t mean it communicates and more importantly it doesn’t mean it communicates the right thing” - David Carson (0:58:37)
More Quotes that stuck out to me
“American Apparel uses Helvetica and they look cheeky, American airlines uses it and looks sober… There’s something about the typeface that really invites this open interpretation” - Jonathan Hoefler, (0:29:38)
“Why is bad taste ubiquitous… It’s become one of those defaults…It’s never going to go away it is ubiquitous, it’s a default, it’s air, you know it’s just there Erik Spiekermann, (0:36:18)
“The guy who designed it tried to make all the letters look the same… Hello? you know that’s called an army that’s people having the same f***king helmet on. it doesn’t further individualism” Erik Spiekermann, (0:37:36)
“Typefaces are a brand. You are telling an audience “This is for you” by using a certain typography brand. You would recognise a Marlboro brand two miles away because they use a typeface that they only use… Anyone can buy it, but Marlboro have made the typeface theirs. You can notice any Marlboro Ad from a mile away, if they’d used Helvetica, hello? It wouldn’t quite work” Erik Spiekermann, (0:39:17)
