Helvetica: A Typeface of Significance
Helvetica is a typeface of the sans-serif group developed in 1957 by Swiss designer, Max Miedinger. Over the decades, the typeface has come to be known as one of the greatest typefaces of the 20th century. Helvetica, the film was released in 2007 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the font and was directed by Gary Hustwit. This paper attempts to bring an understanding of Helvetica, as a typeface by looking at the development of the typeface in the context of both modernist and postmodernist graphic designers as presented in the film.
Analysis
Helvetica is a film that seeks to look at the lives of the people behind graphic design. In most Cases, people do not understand the pains and challenges that designers go through before they can successfully create typefaces that are commonly used in many computer programs. Hustwit, the director of the film, uses several interviews of people involved in the industry in order to bring out an understanding of what goes on. Using the developer's cultural and social conditions, the director makes it possible for the viewer to understand the reasons why such graphic designers go through many challenges to bring out their creations.
In order to bring an understanding of the different technological advancements that have taken place in the industry, the film takes an important investigation of the relationship between the original Swiss Design and the way this technology has been advanced especially in the American context. The penetration of Helvetica, the text style, into American culture is additionally investigated, alongside some minor departure from typographic training from both a formal and casual viewpoint.
The film producers did an excellent job in pointing out the idea that the primary innovators had in attempting to introduce fonts that are acceptable on a wide scale. The idea of introducing weight discrimination in the font was actually one of the reasons that the typeface has been very popular in media circles (Zramdini and Rolf 879). By interviewing Wim Crouwel, the producers give the viewer a chance to understand the primary motivations behind graphic design. In the interview, Crouwel makes it clear that the main intention of a good font is to make print and other representations such as logos clear in their own sense that any user will feel satisfied with its use. In addition, Crouwel goes further to state that a good typeface needs to be 'discernable and direct (Crouwel, Helvetica).' Through such approaches, a font will easily attract wide usage because computer users can be able to create meaningful creations with the font.
Secondly, Hustwit uses a number of postmodernist designers to offer criticisms on the modernist approach as well as to talk about cultural, religious, and technological changes that have influenced the growth in the design of typefaces and their usage. Among the interviewers that the makers of the film bring to the fold are Erik Spiekermann, Neville Brody, Paula Scher, and Stefan Sagmeister. On their part, these designers felt that Helveticas' utilization in business and in multiple other areas prompted its speedy decline from the center stage of design.
According to Paula Scher, the usage of the font in corporate America, associations with communism, and the issue of the Vietnam war were also partly responsible for the skepticism that the typeface was associated with (Scher, Helvetica). These musings prompted the grunge development amid the 1970's and 1990's that was a development against Helvetica. During this period, individuals like David Carson became notable names in the industry regardless of the challenges they faced in trying to introduce new outlines for the design fraternity.
The 21st century brought a new wave of life to the typeface, as there was the introduction of more open visual communication PC projects and improvements in interpersonal interaction. Through these developments, n an ever-increasing number of individuals are attempting their hands at visual communication, thus prompting an increased use of the font and another ascent in the utilization of the text style in expert and non-proficient works.
Over the years, certain corporations have opted to use the typeface due to its depth and weight. The sans-serif font type has been seen to be a good choice for many corporations and institutions. For instance, the New York Times uses the font for its signage. The University of Bremen has also chosen the font for its corporate designs (Lorenz and Kristan 14). With such organizations choosing the font, it is clear that the font has still some good elements to be emulated. Imperial Mail utilizes Helvetica in light of the fact that the attributes of the typeface delineate what Royal Mail is, respectable, effective, and clear.
Helvetica is additionally normally utilized in the definitive and enlightening way, for example, cautioning signs, 'destructive smoking' messages and for the most parts 'do this' or 'don't do that' signage. It is the typeface of intensity (Zramdini and Rolf 877). Helvetica re-composed the corporate character in the 1960's. However between the 1970's and the 1980's the typeface turned into somewhat basic. Helvetica was made in 1950 is still in conspicuous use in the realm of visual depiction for both expert and non-proficient purposes. Regardless of, or in some cases because of it, a few experts have avoided the text style regardless. Anyway, it appears that the textual style still utilized all over and by nearly everybody. Moreover, keeping in mind that a few specialists still consider it the most exhausting text style always considers it to be unfixable, culminate textual style, with boundless potential outcomes and will never be overlooked or supplanted.
One flaw that faces the film is that the film does not perceive the long history of Swiss social style; Swiss Design did not as effortlessly stroll off a mechanical production system as it's not culture-referenced, interpretation did in the US. It was tenaciously grounded in Swiss social conventions, and, significantly more vitally, in the indigenous visual dialect of illustration, printmaking, and painting. Dissimilar to American fashioners, the Swiss happily recognized their foundations in expressions of the human experience, commended them and never endeavored to overlook them or make tracks in an opposite direction from them. Additionally, Swiss Design was not just about fundamental and secluded typography but rather significantly more about the advanced tasteful frame in the improvement of letters, illustrations, and photographies. The sharp shape was the sign of Swiss outline. This was honed by few in the US at that point and exists never again (Wilson 17-23).
In summation, exactly when Helvetica was released the developers did not comprehend that the printed style would become a major typeface. At any rate, the content style exploded in noticeable quality. The content style was fundamentally used by graphic designers when it went to joint efforts and street signs. as we observed from the words of Crouwel, the print should be clear, discernible, and be able to coordinate multiple usages as well as be of interest in logos. Unexpectedly it was this use incite an expulsion of the content style later in its life as a partake, unexpressive, and in the long run, debilitating printed style.
Work Cited
Bruni, Dimitri, and Manuel Krebs. Norm the things. Die Gestalten Verlag, 2002.
Helvetica. Directed by Gary Hustwit. Perf: Manfred Schultz, Wim Crouwel, Paula Scher, David Carson. Plexifilm, 2007.
Lorenz, Dirk, and Kristan Bredies. "The ZeTeM Theme for the Beamer Class." (2005): 12-24.
Wilson Harvey. 1000 type treatments: from script to serif, letterforms used to perfection. Rockport Publishers, 2008.
Zramdini, Abdelwahab, and Rolf Ingold. "Optical font recognition using typographical features." IEEE Transactions on Pattern Analysis & Machine Intelligence 8 (1998): 877-882.
