Now, an actual post almost totally on design.
Helvetica. All the rage right? It seems like society's love for this ubiquitous typeface has been refreshed with the emergence of the documentary, aptly named, 'Helvetica.' With a rich history and the ability to work in such a shown variety of projects, whats not to love? Now, I have not seen this film yet. I'm sure I will eventually, but I will get to it when I get to it. I really feel no real rush to check it out, because honestly, I don't really like Helvetica. (Holy shit! Did he just say what I think he did? Oh my god!) Yep, not a fan.
Helvetica is easily one of the most commonly used typefaces ever. For all those people reading this that have no interest in counters and x-heights, I can safely say you see it at least 20 times a day. Ever seen the NY Subway Signage? Helvetica. American Apparel logo? Helvetica. This very blog could easily be set in Helvetica as you are reading this. Now this universal application is what I believe to be one of the it's most attractive qualities, and, in my opinion, the worst.
In school, Helvetica was avoided like the plague. There had to be something better out there! Something that fit better for the design's direction and concept than Helvetica. After all, it was just so neutral. So un-charismatic. So invisible! But oddly enough, that is the best part. Helvetica has become the invisible typeface. What do you use when you don't really want people to notice the type? Helvetica. And I am not making this up. Well known and often respected designers (not necessarily by me, but thats another post) such as Michael C. Place and Experimental Jetset are heavy Helvetica users and have mentioned there use at times as an attempt to make the type disappear.
Now this leads to two interesting conclusions. The first is, what a crock of crap! Type is not invisible, so there is no possibility that the typeface selection is somehow not going to communicate. And second, the mass use of Helvetica in the past 30 years has definitely made it something of a staple, but that is the new meaning, and quite possibly close to the original intent. Based off Akzidenz Grotesk, Helvetica was the answer to modernism in Design. One typeface to rule them all. Now, that will never really work, but in many ways it has come close, and now is what it embodies. I would not say Helvetica disappears on the page, but represents banality and the mass-produced/consumed typeface it is. It in many ways lack communication which is the antithesis of Design. Finally (kind of a third), I also just think there are countless other san serif typefaces that are much nicer than Helvetica. Hell, I even prefer Arial over Helvetica. (Note Apple. All their stuff looks super nice, no?) Maybe, I am just biased from what I learned in school, but Helvetica will never be the end all answer to typefaces. Not a chance.
Now the reason why any of my limited readers out there who are not really interested in typeface design should care. Designers craft their projects to communicate to you, creating a message that is composed of many parts. Now, I believe in Post-Modern thought and that everything means something (to put it very very very vaguely), so even the typeface chosen for a project is meaningful. Since I am trying to communicate my design to you, and possibly even influence you to buy this or vote for this guy. Take a look. Type is definitely a bit more important than you think.
Type Comparison
Helvetica. All the rage right? It seems like society's love for this ubiquitous typeface has been refreshed with the emergence of the documentary, aptly named, 'Helvetica.' With a rich history and the ability to work in such a shown variety of projects, whats not to love? Now, I have not seen this film yet. I'm sure I will eventually, but I will get to it when I get to it. I really feel no real rush to check it out, because honestly, I don't really like Helvetica. (Holy shit! Did he just say what I think he did? Oh my god!) Yep, not a fan.
Helvetica is easily one of the most commonly used typefaces ever. For all those people reading this that have no interest in counters and x-heights, I can safely say you see it at least 20 times a day. Ever seen the NY Subway Signage? Helvetica. American Apparel logo? Helvetica. This very blog could easily be set in Helvetica as you are reading this. Now this universal application is what I believe to be one of the it's most attractive qualities, and, in my opinion, the worst.
In school, Helvetica was avoided like the plague. There had to be something better out there! Something that fit better for the design's direction and concept than Helvetica. After all, it was just so neutral. So un-charismatic. So invisible! But oddly enough, that is the best part. Helvetica has become the invisible typeface. What do you use when you don't really want people to notice the type? Helvetica. And I am not making this up. Well known and often respected designers (not necessarily by me, but thats another post) such as Michael C. Place and Experimental Jetset are heavy Helvetica users and have mentioned there use at times as an attempt to make the type disappear.
Now this leads to two interesting conclusions. The first is, what a crock of crap! Type is not invisible, so there is no possibility that the typeface selection is somehow not going to communicate. And second, the mass use of Helvetica in the past 30 years has definitely made it something of a staple, but that is the new meaning, and quite possibly close to the original intent. Based off Akzidenz Grotesk, Helvetica was the answer to modernism in Design. One typeface to rule them all. Now, that will never really work, but in many ways it has come close, and now is what it embodies. I would not say Helvetica disappears on the page, but represents banality and the mass-produced/consumed typeface it is. It in many ways lack communication which is the antithesis of Design. Finally (kind of a third), I also just think there are countless other san serif typefaces that are much nicer than Helvetica. Hell, I even prefer Arial over Helvetica. (Note Apple. All their stuff looks super nice, no?) Maybe, I am just biased from what I learned in school, but Helvetica will never be the end all answer to typefaces. Not a chance.
Now the reason why any of my limited readers out there who are not really interested in typeface design should care. Designers craft their projects to communicate to you, creating a message that is composed of many parts. Now, I believe in Post-Modern thought and that everything means something (to put it very very very vaguely), so even the typeface chosen for a project is meaningful. Since I am trying to communicate my design to you, and possibly even influence you to buy this or vote for this guy. Take a look. Type is definitely a bit more important than you think.
Type Comparison
posted by Jonathan Burkett at
22:31
