Helvetica

“The meaning is in the content of the text not in the typeface and that’s why we loved Helvetica so much” – Wim Coronwel

Fonts are an essential part of our everyday life. Whether we pay attention to them or not, they
influence the way we perceive texts. Helvetica is one of the most popular typefaces of the 20th century. It’s
everywhere, streets, logos, magazines, posters, the internet. How did it became so popular? Where does it
come from?
Helvetica, is the first, perhaps the only documentary about a typeface, on a subject, anyone
hardly ever pays attention to in everyday life. Fonts are something we take for granted. One might notice
them when they are poorly used, for instance, bad spacing, many different character sizes or the use of
an odd typeface. However, fonts consciously and subconsciously influence us when we are reading
something.
The documentary, produced in 2007 uses the omnipresent font as a lens, through which it
examines contemporary visual culture and how typeface per se is used, aesthetically, spatially, and
culturally, to impart shape and character to urban environments. Director Gary Hustwit and his crew has
done an excellent job of exploring the subject protractedly and portraying the development of fonts through a
series of interviews with over 20 design experts in the film, including Michael C. Place, Paula Scher,
Matthew Carter and David Carson which provides him with a lot of interesting stories and anecdotes about
graphic design and their unique job. I appreciate the fact that this documentary gives everyone a chance to
speak their mind, while the filmmaker doesn’t directly come out and state his personal opinion, but rather
lets everything unfold organically.
Helvetica is not just a film about a font, but also about the people who are fascinated by it,
people who design typefaces, and obsess over them. They all have different work styles, and different
opinions about Helvetica. To some, it's the peak of perfection in typefaces. To others, it's boring and
sterile and yet others find that despite its association with corporations and standardization, it can be co-
opted to new uses. But they share one trait in common: They not only pay attention to the details, but they
are passionate about them, they fixate on them they are able to find universes in what the rest of us
consider minutiae.
The documentary provides us with interesting commentary on modern and postmodern
design conventions and how they have changed over the past few decades. It also shows us that we
should take nothing we see from day to day for granted, even the words that may cross our field of vision
for only a few seconds.
In the end Helvetica is not just about Helvetica. It’s a movie about graphic design—about
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. 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.

-Sanjana Bhandiwad
Sr no. 4