Elvis

So, in response to the claim in Rob's post that Helvetica is Punk as Fuck, I decided to play devil's advocate and take a differing position.

I think that Helvetica in and of itself cannot be classified as "punk" or "establishment" or whatever. It depends entirely upon the context in which it's used. When it was first designed and presented an alternative to the jumbled mishmash of typefaces that were being used in public design, it definitely had a "punk" aspect to it, in that it was a conscious reaction to the established way of doing things. In the same way, when Elvis came on the pop music scene with "That's All Right" and "Blue Suede Shoes", it could be scene as a reaction to the pop vocal sensibilities of Frank Sinatra and other artists of the time.  read more »