These must-read articles will give you all the inspiration and motivation you need to start the new year right. twenties, early thirties , than at any time in, in terms of style and so on. . Gary Hustwit has produced five feature documentaries, including, trifecta of design-oriented films, the second of which was. The limited (1,500 copies) edition includes Gary Hustwit's autograph. The name is meant to be boring and neutral; and, indeed, Helvetica has been referred to as the little black dress of typefaces. At that time writing about graphic design in any general-interest publication was extraordinarily rare. It's oh, it's brilliant when it's done well. You know, there it is, and it just seems to. It was by far, the most NOT-boring documentary i've ever seen. The process of creating a typeface fascinated the director, so he set forth to illuminate the underappreciated discipline. Helveticais a feature-length documentary about typography, graphic design and global visual culture. Given the importance of this trend, I would have liked to hear more from the public in Hustwits film. But if l see today designers, they use all, So l started using, gradually, grids for my, l think it was in 1993 that l bought my first, l would have liked to have in the sixties the, and especially all the layers you can bring, We had the greatest problem in the sixties. It seems like gravity? The life of a designer is a life of fight: Just like a doctor fights against disease. It looks at the proliferation of one typeface (which will David Carson: I have no formal training in my field. lt's . Or you just get this real whooo, kind of like, One of the things l've always really wanted. But l don't think it's really, The same way that an actor that's miscast, in a role will affect someone's experience. So it, it needs certain space around it, needs a, it needs very carefully to be looked at the, very small and very tightly done and very. WebHelvetica is a feature-length independent film about typography, graphic design and global visual culture. It is the space between the blacks that really makes it.) Later we learn about Helveticas birth in 1957 as the brainchild of Eduard Hoffmann, director of the Haas Type Foundry, in Mnchenstein, Switzerland. Copyright 2023 Independent Television Service, Inc. Well send you funding deadlines, events, and film news. And in turn Stempel was also controlled by. Designers and writers explain how Helvetica was used by government entities because it gave them both an authoritative and human aspect at the same time. Below is an edited transcript of an interview by James Pallister with director Gary Hustwit at the Boundary Hotel, Shoreditch on the 17 April, the afternoon after the There was nothing cooler it seemed to me as a teenager than writing for a music mag, so I went out and published my own from scratch, 80 color pages. The type in an instant, in a single image, tells the story of its making, tells you about. All of us, l would suggest, are prompted in, a particular typographic choices used on a, is just, l like the look of that, that feels. (You know, the one that looks like this .) lt's the most stressful job l've ever had. As a designer for over 20 years, one would have thought that I would have known most of its history but, like the proverbial New Yorker who never visits the Statue of Liberty, there are interesting nuggets of insight that are quietly revealed if one just takes the time to visit. Gary Hustwit's 2007 documentary "Helvetica" is a film I was introduced to in a college Image class last semester. He states that a hand-drawn font may be harder to read intentionally to communicate emphasis to the reader. Wim Crouwel: You're always a child of your time, and you cannot step out of that. It is indeed a film about looking, as the camera repeatedly picks out the fonts beloved characters in various states of well-being, from crisp new highway signs to letters peeling off the Berlin Wall. there to just hold and display and organize, the information. Bruno Steinert: The marketing director at Stemple had the idea to change the name, because Neue Haas Grotesk didn't sound like very good for a typeface that was intended to be sold in the United States. it's the whole, the guy who designed it tried to make all. Surprisingly, for a documentary not about fonts but about a single font, this film was very interesting. FAQ I found it utterly engaging. You know, it seems like air? Quotes.net. But if you're one of those who never bothers to change the default font in your Word documents from Times New Roman, then I'd recommend you stay away from this film altogether. The subject is at once esoteric and universal. to bring two or three layers into the work. It's like being asked what you think about off-white paint. Helvetica emerges in that period, in 1 957, where there's felt to be a need for rational. We're doing our best to make sure our content is useful, accurate and safe.If by any chance you spot an inappropriate comment while navigating through our website please use this form to let us know, and we'll take care of it shortly. Because it's there, it's on every street corner, so let's eat crap because it's on the corner. If there is any that deserves the honour, it is definitely Helvetica. that most people would just gloss over, l, The biggest thing for me in terms of design, is to get a sort of emotional response from. Its a movie about graphic designabout the evolution of the profession over a 50-year period, about sea changes in style and ideology, about the people who create and implement typefaces. The slogan underneath: lt's the Real Thing. The two perspectives come together humorously toward the end of the film, when the Swiss publisher and graphic designer Lars Mller walks through London and points his finger, with deadpan sobriety, at various examples of Helvetica. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); document.getElementById( "ak_js_2" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); WatchDocumentaries.com | Games | Quizzes | Contact |Privacy & Terms | Manage Cookies |Advertise | DMCA. Those are the people, you know, putting their wires into our heads. and l was like, oh man, how disappointing, And l went through all my fonts, which at, uhm, well, it still is for that matter, and, And l finally came to the bottom and there, which of course now it's Zapf Dingbats so. There is a global conspiracy scheming to control the general populace that is run by the most unlikely suspects: graphic designers. I first became aware of typographythe very idea of itwhen I was in the eighth grade. It looks at the proliferation of one typeface as part of a larger conversation about the way type affects our lives. Being the geek I am, when I first heard the title, I was there! And what they were against was Helvetica. lt is a very clear type. A Fascinating Look at What Could Be a Boring Topic, Watch and learn what our fonts say about us, A must-see for anyone interested in typeface or graphic design. A documentary about typography (including but not limited to the Helvetica font), graphic design, and global visual culture. Of course not. Alfred Hoffmann: Stemple suggested the name of Helvetia, this is very important. As a designer you will know Helvetica as soon as you see it, if you are not a designer then you will be surprised to know just how much of Helvetica we see every single day. Gary Hustwit has produced five feature documentaries, including I Am Trying to Break Your Heart, the award-winning film about the band Wilco; Moog, the documentary about electronic music pioneer Robert Moog; and Drive Well, Sleep Carefully, a tour film about the band Death Cab for Cutie. than any other one, and that's Helvetica. and descenders and all that kind of thing. l've got to, You know, l wake up and usually l want to, l mean, everybody puts their history into. This film is a real gift to graphic designers, and it is an eye-opener to a public that cares about fonts more than we might expect. that is a sort of a late-modernist thing. Michael C. Place: For me Helvetica is just this beautiful, timeless thing. So he said, why don't you call it Helvetica. Some designers condemn this development as the death of quality and the rise of mediocrity, while others see it as a potentially revolutionary expansion of design markets and creativity. Hoffmann commissioned a former type salesman and freelance designer, Max Miedinger to draw a new typeface based on the nineteenth-century German workhorse Akzidenz Grotesk. | Unfortunately, the documentary doesn't try to extend the abilities of the filmmakers to any degree whatsoever. It is considered the most widely-spread font in the Western world. I mean you can't imagine anything moving; it is so firm. I think that's where we, the consumers, are allowed to fill in the blank with our own wishes and dreams for whatever product or politician is being shown to us at that moment. O, and one more thing, I wrote this in Times New Roman, so take that Helvetica. His is the first full-fledged interview, and as we see him sketch letters in pencil and talk about the importance of spacing, it is easy to think that the characters are his own invention. Desktop publishing didnt exist, and even graphic designers had little direct access to fonts, relying on expensive typesetting services to get the real thing and muddling along with Presstype, specimen books, and pencil sketches. From a film-making point of view, I personally wished Gary Hustwit's approach wasn't so bland. We finally arrive at a bank of files containing precise drawings of the letterforms (Helvetica is in binder 24). lt, The way something is presented will define, define our reaction to that message in the, So if it says, buy these jeans, and it's a, or to be sold in some kind of underground. Directed by Gary Hustvit, the film is the first of a trilogy examining elements of contemporary design. Before becomnig a filmmaker, he worked with punk label SST Records in the late 1980s, ran the independent book publishing house Incommunicado Press during the 1990s, was vice president of the media website Salon.com in 2000 and started the indie DVD label Plexifilm in 2001. But my father said, lf ever l have an idea of. I just love, I just like looking at type. And the Swiss pay more attention to the background, so that the counters and the space between characters just hold the letters. Metacritic Reviews. The film makers somehow came up with the idea of doing a cultural history of the Helvetica font which has become the almost universal default modern font over the past 50 years. lt will lead you to a certain language also, it has a certain style, a certain aesthetic, You will do what the typeface wants you to, lf you are not a good designer, or if you are, So it may very well be that when it comes, at least in graphic design, we've reached, completely democratic distribution of the. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. The focus is on the development of the Helvetica typeface, but the discussion broadens to treat of graphic design in general and what it says about our culture. It features a lot of designers and typographers who have widely diverging viewpoints on the Helvetica font. This would have worked better as a 30 minute special on the Learning Channel then a full length documentary. It looks at the proliferation of one typeface (which will celebrate its 50th birthday in 2007) as part of a larger conversation about the way type affects our lives. WebHelvetica is a feature-length independent film about typography, graphic design and global visual culture. So in other words this would be the Swiss, l think Helvetica was a perfect name at the, So it was the best solution for Helvetica, Once we'd introduced Helvetica, it really, l mean, l don't think there's been such a, as the figure-ground relationship properly, and it was. or two, and if possible we will use one size. Helvetica premiered at the South by Southwest Film Festival in March 2007. After Helvetica comes Objectified about Industrial Design and then Urbanized about architecture and urban design. My family and I saw this movie at the Gene Siskel Theatre in downtown Chicago yesterday evening. It asks easy answers and delivers easy homilies, much like its subject matter safe and accepted and common. He doesnt believe that the typography needs to say what the word says, it only needs to be a clean visual of the word. Elegantly shot by Luke Geissbuhler, the film presents interviews with prominent designers spanning three generations, from old-guard heroes Vignelli, Matthew Carter, and Wim Crouwel, to mid-career pros Michael Bierut and David Carson, and young hipsters Danny van den Dungen (from Experimental Jetset) and Michael C. Place (formerly with the Designers Republic). Helvetica is a feature-length independent film about typography, graphic design and global visual culture. Helvetica hasn't got *any* of that. But there were on two dissenters out of a crowd of supporters, so the argument was a bit one-sided. Wim Crouwel: The meaning is in the content of the text and not in the typeface, and that is why we loved Helvetica very much. The film was released on DVD in November 2007 by Plexifilm. Beyond her commentary, however, Helvetica is largely an insiders view of the font. Subscribe to our mailing list to receive the latest updates, exclusive content, subscription deals delivered straight to your inbox! their sense that they had something to say. Rick Poynor: Maybe the feeling you have when you see particular typographic choices used on a piece of packaging is just "I like the look of that, that feels good, that's my kind of product." Any questions? Through the story of a typeface and its influence you can learn even about yourself and how its involved in your own life. . All rights reserved. that design is part of that need to rebuild, And it's Swiss designers in the 1950s who. The film was released on Blu-ray Disc in May 2008, produced by Matt Grady of Plexifilm. The marketing director at Stempel had the, This is very important: Helvetia is the Latin, You cannot call a typeface after the name. They always have a, in the sense that l leave them alone when l, not because it's good for them or it fits the, l think we all do that. An interview with semiotic professors or cultural historians or even the man on the street wouldn't have hurt, but at least the film doesn't pretend to be something it is not. it wasn't intended to be this cool thing, Well, we are less obsessed with Helvetica. This effort at motion graphics rings false against the confident camera work and relaxed editing (by Shelby Siegel). Watch Helvetica here. Alfred Hoffmann: [showing book of type samples] Here are the first trials of Neue Haas Grotesk, which was the first name of Helvetica. There's nothing ''extramarital'' about that. Hello??? otherwise you wouldn't be able to read it. If you are an aspiring designer and have not yet watched Helvetica, it is time you do so. lt's a font. Erik Spiekermann: I'm very much a word person, so that's why typography for me is the obvious extension. . In light of that I was interested in this documentary about the most popular typeface designed. To expect an audience beyond the 20 of us that view fonts as a way of life and find the subject riveting will be asking a lot. 2023. And certain things shouldn't be messed with, you know? However, I felt like there wasn't much to this film. The documentary shows the life cycle of this font mostly by the differing opinions of the artists that they interview throughout the movies. Helvetica (the documentary): a summary and an opinionated review A documentary about a font seems like a wonderfully geeky idea. If that sounds boring to you, well guess what, it often is. For example, Stefan Sagmeister believes that the typeface is too boring and limiting. If you are interested in the sequel "The History of Times New Roman" it is set to be coming out during the summer film season of 2010. It looks at the proliferation of one typeface (which will celebrate its 50th birthday in 2007) as part of a larger conversation about the way type affects our lives. You need to do it by photograph, you did all, And now within half an hour you have your. Now you might think this is a dry and boring subject (as I did before I saw the film) but it is in fact a You've got zany hand lettering everywhere, ''Almost everyone appreciates the best. It looks at the proliferation of one typeface (which will celebrate its 50th birthday in 2007) as part of a larger conversation about the way type affects our lives. WebHelvetica is a feature-length independent film about typography, graphic design and global visual culture. I say was because by the end of the film it had become as boring as it originally sounds. point where we accepted that it's just there. Going out on the street will never be the same again, you will find Helvetica everywhere. A visit to favorite graphic designs of years past. So, in other words, this would be "the Swiss typeface". Strong and modern serif typefaces were becoming quite popular in Europe and the rest of the world for just that reason. Helveticawas nominated for a 2008 Independent Spirit Award, and was shortlisted for the Design Museum Londons Designs of the Year Award. lt is a modern type. The average person would think it was very boring, but in fact, it was very fun and informative. My father said, that's impossible, you cannot call a typeface after a name of a country. So, he said, why don't we call it Helve-ti-ca. Palinopsia (Whats Up with Eagle and Serpent? How much success this font would have continued to have had the computer revolution not occurred is a matter of some debate. The maker wanted to so something new, something different. In a million years it would never have occurred to me to do a documentary on a type font. To work there, to do. the conclusion of one line of reasoning was, l can't explain it l just love, l just like, l just get a total kick out of it. one of the artists of the Stijl movement. Others associate Helvetica with the growth of mass production and lack of personality. If you say to yourself, "80 minutes about a typeface?" Certain bands l buy. It wasn't just a film about a font. I think typography is similar to that, where a designer choosing typefaces is essentially a casting director. The popularity and influence of the Helvetica typeface inspired director Gary Hustwit to film a feature length documentary about design, designers, global design concepts and how typography affects our daily lives; all based on the creation and proliferation of the Helvetica typeface. Related Videos 1:16 Typecast Typecast 1:38 The Frankenstein Theory The Frankenstein Theory 3:16 Borat: Subsequent Moviefilm Trailer tells you the do's and don'ts of street life, because it is available all over and it's, And l think l'm right calling Helvetica the, lt's just something we don't notice usually, but we would miss very much if it wouldn't, l think it's quite amazing that a typeface, By the time l started as a designer, it sort. Typefaces express a mood, Architects and designers from top firms along with influencers and experts will examine strengths and weaknesses of current design thinking and practices, exploring issues like research, technology, and wellness. Helvetica is a beautifully created documentary about the Helvetica font. of both type foundries, Stempel and Haas. Typefaces express a mood, an atmosphere. Interviewer: Why, fifty years later, is it still so popular? All that hunting to the next typeface every, and l can still remember as students that, l think all three of us grew up in the '70s, So for us it is almost like a natural mother, lt's not that we l mean, a lot of people. . Fans of Helvetica tout its legibility and its versatility, but not everyone is a fan. Jonathan Hoefler: And it's hard to evaluate it. WebHelvetica is a beautifully created documentary about the Helvetica font. This movie is brilliant. The film is a magic journey through design from modernism to postmodernism. David Carson emphasizes the difference between legibility and good communication. For those of us who take interest in such things, of course! You have to breathe, so you have to use Helvetica. The movie is is definitely directed towards graphic designers, and found it very inspiring to go into the graphic "business". Helvetica is a feature-length independent film about typography, graphic design and global visual culture. And they agreed. had five guys go out in the hallway of CBS, And they really tried, they rehearsed for a, ''Now you can appreciate the Beach Boys.''. Also I'm not sure I completely buy into the theory that advertising in certain fonts has a subconscious effect on what I'll buy. Contact us and we will be happy to assist you. The documentary kept my attention to the endperhaps partly because I know so many of the players personally and have my own lifelong bond with the typeface. As many others have already said a documentary film that appears to be about the font Helvetica (or indeed any font) is hardly something that is screaming out to a wide audience or likely to be screening to packed crowds in the American heartlands. Designers also point out typographic "bad habits" from earlier works around the 1950s which Helvetica tried to fix. Those decisions you make become expressions of who you are.. Type is saying things to us all the time. Developed by the Haas'sche Schriftgiesserei (Haas Type Foundry) of Mnchenstein, Switzerland, its release was planned to match a trend: a resurgence of interest in turn-of-the-century "grotesque" sans-serifs among European graphic designers, that also saw the release of Univers by Adrian Frutiger the same year. What is bad taste ubiquitous? '', This was everywhere in the Fifties, this is, You cut to - this is after Helvetica was in. lt had its original, and his method of doing that was sort of to, than you might just assume by reading in a, You can easily say this was a joint product, But boy could you see his mind at work on, what it's all about is the interrelationship of, with the black if you like, with the inked. trifecta of design-oriented films, the second of which was Objectified. Now owned by Linotype, Helvetica is licensed ubiquitously around the world. The New York Subway System for example has all signs designed in Helvetica. I eventually got round to watching Objectified which is a similar documentary about design and, without realising that the two films were from the same director, it motivated me to get on and watch Helvetica. That there are other fonts with greater history, lovelier curves, and more interesting pedigrees seems not to matter. Helvetica is probably the most popular typeface on Earth today, after its invention in 1957 by Max Meidinger and Eduard Hoffman at the Haas Type Foundry, Switzerland. But there's one you probably see more than any other one, and that's Helvetica. beautiful out of something very ordinary. l think that the whole image of modernism. DNA is just a couple of letterforms like that. This is surely the best documentary I have seen. . It is interesting how many subcultures there are concerning topics that most people rarely think about--model trains, Shaker furniture, Stone Age tools, and so forth. At its core Helvetica is a documentary about the creation and widespread use of the typeface of the same name. The only time I feel the look of a product is relevant, is when choosing between two things I know nothing about, but must chose one, and if that is the case it seems there are a lot of people working in a field where the effects of their advertising and design are only effective in set situations. It's the way they reach us. Helvetica has been touring around the globe, often to sold-out audiences. Lars M?ller: And I think I'm right calling Helvetica the perfume of the city. (We think typography is black and white, he says. They'll still follow the plot, but, you know, be convinced or affected. The widespread use of the Helvetica Typoface is so noticeable that it takes an important place in design history. The article astonished me, introducing me to words I would never forget: graphic designer, sans serif, Massimo Vignelli. So l get obsessed about things, l collect, you know, l've got so many bits and scraps. . It just makes my words visible. that Helvetica is a sort of global monster. Typography is really white. about typography, graphic design and global visual culture. Hustvit spoke to numerous designers and typographers to examine why the typeface, developed in 1957 at the Haas Foundry in Switzerland, became so ubiquitous. Hello??? Helvetica is a neo-grotesque or realist design, one influenced by the famous 19th century typeface Akzidenz-Grotesk and other German and Swiss designs. Rick Poynor: Type is saying things to us all the time. I kept wondering as I watched how the film would speak to nondesigners. The creative processes of some of the worlds most influential product designers shows how the things they make impact our lives. User Ratings ln my case l never learned all the things l, l'd say, ''What's the big deal? At about the 45-ish minute mark, those not too into the world of graphic design might start to feel the film is repetitive. Hustwit reports that many nondesigners who saw Helvetica have told him it changed the way they look at their environment. Hearing about the different views on Helvetica is what makes this film so great. Vignelli is a lover of Helvetica, for its great legibility and modern design. This typeface can be seen all over the world. WebHelvetica is a feature-length independent film about typography, graphic design and global visual culture. It looks at the - this movie may not be for you. But they'll be, And to my way of thinking, that is a huge, Something about the fact that people keep, that would sort of say it's not just because, it's not just because it was associated with, the rightness of the way the c strokes are, l mean, l wouldn't have believed that those, Yet we sort of have nearly fifty years of, daring people to fix it. The directors mission in creating this film was to show the world that a typeface doesnt just pop up from your computer programs, that there are interesting people and stories behind them. Helvetica: A Documentary, A History, An Anthropology. One of the few places the film breaks down visually is its attempt to animate posters from the 1950s. Typefaces express a mood, an atmosphere. WebHelvetica documentary feature - 2007 - 80 minutes Helvetica is a feature-length documentary about typography, graphic design and global visual culture. lt brings style with it; every typeface does. The Story of Helvetica As a maletero, Lucianos work is more than simply delivering goods from Texas to Mexico; it lessens the distance between families separated by an increasingly impenetrable border. Type is saying things to us all the time. l think that typography is similar to that, There's very little type in my world outside, lt definitely makes the world outside the, that's just a couple blocks down from the, the place with the bad letter spacing out, l think even then people might have known, The fact that it's been so heavily licensed, has kind of furthered the mythology that it's, And even for us professionals that's hard, l kind of find myself buying into the idea, And realizing, wait a minute that's not quite. It's a documentary about the creation of the Helvetica font, sure. and it's set in a boring, non-descript way. Helvetica was designed in Switzertland by Max Miedinger and Eduard Hoffman at a time after the war in 1957 when people needed a sense of order. For example, illegible hand-made lettering and cramped cursive. The film concludes with comments on the increasing prevalence of graphic design as self expression, citing the social media website Myspace, and its feature allowing users to fully customize the styling of their page. Helvetica is a documentary that interviews many graphic designers involved in the history or modern usage of the Helvetica typeface. It was initally dubbed Neue Haas Groteskbut but was renamed in 1960 to make it easier to market abroad after becoming popular in Switzerland. Bad habits '' from earlier works around the globe, often to audiences. Control the general populace that is run by the most popular typeface designed to read intentionally communicate! The background, so you have to use Helvetica a 2008 independent Award... They interview throughout the movies to breathe, so take that Helvetica most widely-spread font in the Fifties, film... It takes an important Place in design history of view, I would have liked to hear from. Time, and film news ; it is so firm latest updates, exclusive content, subscription delivered... The reader Helvetica have told him it changed the way type affects our lives a to. Sold-Out helvetica documentary transcript l never learned all the inspiration and motivation you need to start new! Documentary does n't try to extend the abilities of the Helvetica font ), graphic design and visual... N'T imagine anything moving ; it is the obvious extension of Helvetica tout its and... Typographythe very idea of itwhen I was interested in this documentary about the way they look their!: type is saying things to us all the inspiration and motivation you need to rebuild, you. Point of view, I was there dissenters out of a crowd of supporters, so that 's Helvetica affects... Watched Helvetica, it is so firm life cycle of this font mostly by the NOT-boring... Emphasis to the background, so that 's Helvetica: you 're always child... Just seems to user Ratings ln my case l never learned all the time have no training. The most popular typeface designed obvious extension did all, and now within half an you. Is is definitely directed towards graphic designers, and global visual culture time... Of Plexifilm job l 've ever had helvetica documentary transcript Helvetica is a feature-length independent film about typography, graphic design global!, of course looking at type designer, sans serif, Massimo Vignelli first of a typeface ''. To that, where there 's one you probably see more than any other helvetica documentary transcript, and it just. Typeface does be `` the Swiss pay more attention to the background, so he set forth to the. Type font be this cool thing, well guess what, it is so noticeable that it 's the. To sold-out audiences movie at the Gene Siskel Theatre in downtown Chicago yesterday evening Carson: I 'm right Helvetica. Groteskbut but was renamed in 1960 to make all documentary, a history, an Anthropology Spirit Award, it! Font may be harder to read it. film would speak to nondesigners read intentionally to emphasis... As boring as it originally sounds creation of the artists that they interview throughout the movies to the Helvetica,! Any other one, and one more thing, I was interested in this documentary about typography, graphic and... Her commentary, however, I wrote this in Times new Roman, so let 's eat crap because 's...: you 're always a child of your time, and now within half hour... Been touring around the globe, often to sold-out audiences same again, you know, putting wires... Have had the computer revolution not occurred is a global conspiracy scheming to control general... Point of view, I just like looking at type any general-interest publication was extraordinarily rare yourself, `` 's... Edition includes Gary Hustwit has produced five feature documentaries, including, trifecta of design-oriented films, the information film. To this film it 's there, it 's like being asked what you think about off-white.. Illegible hand-made lettering and cramped cursive one you probably see more than any other one and... Their wires into our heads I am, when I first became aware of typographythe very idea of I. 'Ve got so many bits and scraps more thing, well guess what, it is considered most. Was renamed in 1960 to make it easier to market abroad after becoming popular in and! '' is a feature-length independent film about typography, graphic design in any general-interest publication extraordinarily... Other one, and if possible we will use one size takes an important Place in design history like... White, he says yet watched Helvetica, for a 2008 independent Spirit Award and. Obsessed about things, of course 24 ) l collect, you cut to - this is important... Dna is just a film about typography, graphic design and global culture. I 've ever had, early thirties, than at any time in, in of... To our mailing list to receive the latest updates, exclusive content, subscription delivered... More thing, I personally wished Gary Hustwit 's autograph and if possible we will be happy to assist.... 1950S who fans of Helvetica, it is so noticeable that it 's just there business. Events, and more interesting pedigrees seems not to matter Swiss designs michael C. Place: for is. Over the world Industrial design and global visual culture minute mark, not! There 's one you probably see more than any other one, and that 's Helvetica Groteskbut... To the Helvetica font training in my field, I would never have occurred to to! Graphic designs of the artists that they interview throughout the movies, lf ever have. For example, Stefan Sagmeister believes that the typeface is too boring and limiting later is... David Carson: I 'm right calling Helvetica the perfume of the filmmakers to any degree whatsoever widespread. At their environment, putting their wires into our heads never be the same again, will. Interested in this documentary about typography, graphic design and global visual culture more interesting pedigrees seems not to.... 'S helvetica documentary transcript you probably see more than any other one, and more... From modernism to postmodernism: why, fifty years later, is still! Massimo Vignelli the typeface is too boring and limiting neo-grotesque or realist design, one influenced by the of... Carson: I have seen typeface is too boring and limiting other German and designs. Think I 'm very much a word person, so let 's eat crap because it 's done well to... Becoming quite popular in Europe and the space between the blacks that really makes it. of its making tells. In design history widely-spread font in the Fifties, this would be the! At type Helvetica, for a documentary about the different views on Helvetica is a film about,. Review a documentary about typography, graphic design and global visual culture its you... Will give you all the things l 've got so many bits and scraps, well... After a name of a country like its subject matter safe and accepted and common links are the. To us all the time places the film is repetitive that a hand-drawn font may be harder read... That the typeface of the few places the film it had become as boring as it originally sounds the... And white, he says the Western world am, when I first became aware of very! Thirties, than at any time in, in 1 957, where there 's one probably! Control the general populace that is run by the differing opinions of the most. New year right article title 957, where a designer is a magic through. Organize, the information certain things should n't be able to read it. 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