Helvetica

Today I got the opportunity to see the film Helvetica. I’ve been excited to see it for quite a while, and now that I’ve seen it, I’m so glad I got to catch one of the screenings. If you are at all interested in typography or design, I’d highly recommend trying to get yourself to a showing of this documentary.
The film covers the history of the typeface, and gets the thoughts of some of the top designers in the world, on the use of Helvetica in every day life and in design work. I thought the filmmaker did a great job of finding contrasting view points from both the modernist side and the post-modernist side.
One of the great results of walking away from the theater, was being able to look up at signs, store fronts, posters, flyers, banners, etc. You don’t realize how much you come in contact with Helvetica until you really take a look around you. I found myself just trying to find the distinct lowercase a on every sign I passed.

As for the issue of whether Helvetica is the end all, be all of typography, and whether mixing typefaces is a sin, I feel like I can’t take a side. I love the Swiss style of simplicity and structure, but at the same time, I’ll always love breaking conventions, like the work of David Carson.
At the end of the day, I think it’s all valuable. I’m just glad I have my eyes open to all of it.