helvetica

Brand logos are probably the most evident examples of imagetext at work. Elements of text (language, words, names, letters) and elements of image (color, shape, visual structure) become co-dependent and create a new, instantly recognizable hybrid form, and ultimately, the logo itself becomes a standalone product, capable of manipulation while still retaining recognizability. Google, for example, changes its logo somewhat during important events. A snowman might adorn one of the O's during Christmas season, or a turkey and a cornucopia might decorate the G and E, for example. Since the basic elements of the Google logo (font, structure, color) remain the same, our minds still process the input as a play on the original logo, rather than an entirely new logo altogether. The most fundamental elements of imagetext persist.  read more »

Prior to the seeing Helvetica the movie, I never really thought a font preavtically everywhere. My favorite clothing store, American Apparel even uses it! There's something so nice about the cleanliness of it, the smoothness of it, that makes it so appealing. As the movie progressed, we started to the progression of opinions, and I definitely got a different take on it. I never really thought that people would associate things like war and capitalism with a font, but I guess when you open your eyes to what can be associated with helvetica, the possibilities are endless. Now that I see helvetica EVERYWHERE, I can't help but think of all the opinions made in the movie, and even though current advertisers are trying to break away from it, at the end of the day I still like it and I think it is very effective.

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 »

After watching the documentary I got stuck on a comment made by one typographer at in the beginning that was explaining why he loved the type face Helvetica so much. His argument was similar to those used by the majority of the pro-Helvetica typographers in the film, that Helvetica is a neutral, blank slate that allows the message of a writing to be in the spotlight rather than the type face. For this reason he argued, Helvetica is a great font, because it is emotionless and does not draw attention to itself. But this same typographer also mentioned the variations of the Helvetica font and said something along the lines of, "you can use Helvetica light if you want to be fancy or you can use Helvetica bold if you want to be intense". The context of this statement escapes me at the moment but the point is that this typographer acknowledged the effect that a font style can have on a piece of writing. So my question is, is it possible for a typeface to be completely neutral and voiceless?  read more »

In researching various font types, Helvetica stands out as one of the most recognized fonts in the world. This is primarily due to it's use in large corporate ad campaigns. Developed in Switzerland in 1957, helvetica was introduced to rival older sans-serif typefaces. Helveticas popularity is due in part to the wave of large typeface ads which boomed in the late 50's and 60's. In addition to advertisments, street signs, transportation systems and fine art prints were also printed in in helvetica. This intruduction has led to the mass production of this typeface and thus created a typeface which can be clearly recognized and easily read. Helvetica is described as a neutral text in that the text has no meaning itself, it takes no position other than conveying messages. This is unlike many of the fancy, decorative, or older sanscript fonts which cause readers to make assumptions of content based on the type face used.

The written word was created to record stories and keep track of accounts and money exchanges. Ever since then we have used it in every aspect of our lives. With the invention of penmanship then typewriters then computers the demand for fonts has increased tenfold.
It is an irony that the companies wanted Helvetica because it was neutral and clean therefore every company would employ it turning it into conformity instead of an ideal of individualism.
Designers spend years and years working endlessly on fonts that we take for granted every day. Helvetica is a monumental success only succeeded by its monumental failure to be what the designers originally intended it to convey. I don’t think that is what the original designer fells toward Helvetica though. When you put years of work into an object or work then it becomes a part of you and whether good or bad you are invested in it. In the end I think the designer is very proud of Helvetica as he should be. It has surpassed all other fonts to become the norm and one of the most used fonts in business, marketing, computer companies, movies, batteries and countless other outlets.  read more »

It's been very interesting to see people's reactions to the documentary Helvetica (and even just the font itself). I'm a graphic designer for both print and online, so the film really resonated with me. I have always loved fonts and typography, and it was so great to see a documentary featuring people who think about the same things I do. Actually, it made me feel a little better about myself because I'm not nearly as obsessive about everything as most of the people being interviewed. But, I'm still a budding designer, so maybe that's me in the future... interesting.

Anyway, it's weird for me to see people talking about typography and fonts like they "don't get it" ... "it's just a font," "it's boring," "it doesn't mean anything," and then transitioning into thoughts like, "I've never thought about it that way before," etc.  read more »

After watching the Helvetica documentary, I decided to do some research online about this typeface that I almost never put to use, but that is so widely used. I was surprised to find that there is somewhat of a debate, more like a war, on the differences between the Helvetica and Arial typefaces, which are commonly thought of as identical.  read more »

Since the discovery of the Rosetta Stone that Drucker cites in her article on the evolution of the alphabet, there really hasn't been anything that has influenced the way we interpret language so much as the phenomenon of mass communication, and the typeface.  read more »

While I can agree with some of the designers that Helvetica offers a clean, crisp look to many advertisements, I do not understand it's perfection. A font can add personality to the text, however, Helvetica does not do this. It is a clean slate, devoid of any innate personality. This text can offer its crisp, breath of fresh air to many projects that need it, however, I do not believe it to be the fix-all for advertisements everywhere.
There are many that cry out for a different, unique persona that can be accomplished through creative fonts.  read more »

My own thoughts (read as: biases) toward Helvetica have previously (meaning: before watching the documentary) been that it was just that annoying font that everyone has on their computers. Most of my dislike for it was entirely based on the fact that there were a number of other fonts I could use that would make an essay seem much longer. Seven pages in Helvetica? How about eight and a half in 'Geneva'! Now, of course, I can only bring myself to print things out in Times New Roman. Printed at 12-point font, Helvetica and Geneva just look giant and cartoonish; Times New Roman seems a little bit less like 'cheating'.  read more »

In design, there two main elements: image and text. The two play off each other to inform the viewer--if one is improperly chosen and ill-suited to the other, the message will become skewed.

For instance, a poster for Steve's Old-fashioned Ice Cream Parlor wouldn't use Helvetica in its advertisement. As we've discussed, Helvetica is streamlined, clean, efficient, bureaucratic--and new. Obviously, it wouldn't function for Steve's store--he would opt for a warmer, nostalgic typeface, perhaps even a script.

Helvetica would function, however, as a typeface for a non-nostalgic parlor that served a variety of foods. It would work just as well for and ad for a chain store, such as Target, or for a flyer posted on campus advertising a used bike for sale. Target aims for the clean, modern feel to inform its images; the bike seller probably used the default setting. In these cases and many others, Helvetica works--the basic, the safe, the universal, the default. As a standalone, it functions clearly and simply in almost any case, but combined with image, it must undergo further consideration before being plunked into the workspace.

After watching Helvetica, I found that there were two main views concerning the text: those who praised the text for its legibility, efficiency, and simplicity, and those who reject it for being bland, unoriginal, and dehumanizing. Although I can clearly see the appeal for Helvetica's functionality...it's clear and useful, but I can't help but feel a kind of rebellion against form, order, and convenience.  read more »

So I have to admit, I haven’t watched the Helvetica documentary yet. I couldn’t make it to the viewings. I know what a bad student I am. However, after listening to the classes comments today and actually paying a little attention to the world around me, I picked up a couple things about Helvetica. So I’m going to use this blog entry to hypothesize what the documentary is going to say. Go out on a limb a bit. Then I’ll watch the video and try to learn something, an probably see how wrong many of my conclusions are…  read more »

The one quote that I remember from Helvetica comes from one of the scholars early on in the film:

"Typography is about making order."

This seems to fit in both the context of modernism and the aesthetic appeal of Helvetica to the viewer. While the actual font's size and thickness may vary from text to text and place to place, it is linearly (and often symmetrically) structured, as we learned from some of its creators, who mapped out individual letters on graphing sheets. It's simplicity and ubiquitousness in a technologically evolving culture has altered life subtly, yet much more so than we might originally think...

Mainly, the lack of seraphs has made each letter and therefore each word more easily recognizable; it resembles more of a handwritten text. This increases the speed at which one can read the text, and saves time. It also makes the task of foreigners approaching it simpler. Simplicity indeed is the goal in modern photography, art, architecture, etc.  read more »