Helvetica

I loved this so much

Back in 1979, my boss asked me to write the copy and design the layout of the literature for our new product (an audio analyzer). I knew nothing about fonts, * but when I saw Helvetica at the print shop, it was love at first sight. Not only was it one of the most-beautiful "things" I'd ever seen, but it was visually neutral, not conveying any particular emotion or atmosphere. I continue to use Helvetica for my (unpublished) fiction, because it lets the writing speak for itself, without implicit "editorializing". Helvetica's beauty and neutrality have made it the world's most-popular font for decades.This is a film about the changes in typography since the introduction of Helvetica in 1960 -- its near-universal adoption, then the natural reaction against it. If you are at all interested in typography or design, you'll almost certainly enjoy this film. If it has a problem, it's that it doesn't accommodate the general viewer with much information about the history of type design. It assumes you already know something about the subject matter.The Blu-ray is a bit on the soft side (compared to what one expects from Blu-ray disks), probably because the film was (likely) shot on 16mm. It is, however, completely free (as I far as I could tell) from dust, scratches, and spots.* It's worth noting that the terms "font" and "typeface" have the wrong meanings. "Officially", a typeface is a style (Times Roman, Courier, Bookman, Avant Garde), while a font is the particular treatment of a style -- size, weight, etc. This is, of course, backwards. "Font" is obviously derived from "fount" (source), and thus //should// refer to the style, while "typeface" suggests what one would see when looking at the face of the type -- the type slug itself. The people in this film commonly refer to type styles as "fonts" -- which is logically correct, even though it's "officially" wrong.

Tried a couple of browsers to get this to play but no luck. Would really have liked to have shared this with my Typography class.

Really interesting awareness of a world of "fonts" I've never given thought to. I enjoyed the editing of the movie, the shots alone opened my eyes to something that usually lacks any distinction for me - lettering. Great capturing of the passionate feelings for/against one single type of lettering - Helvetica. I'll never look at signage and fonts quite the same. If you are the slightest bit interested in design and form of any type (doesn't have to be lettering), you will appreciate this discussion of why - or why not - Helvetica might be "the perfect design." The interviews are wonderfully varied, all with people passionate about their point of view about ... a "font."

Showed this for my digital imaging class. Watch before playing for high school students.

An intelligent documentary taking something that we take for granted, a typeface, and showing its cultural significance. It also provides interesting commentary on modern and postmodern design conventions and how they have changed over the past few decades. This documentary shows Helvetica from multiple view points. To some, it's the peak of perfection in typefaces. To others, it's boring and sterile. Yet others find that despite its association with corporations and standardization, it can be co-opted to new uses.Helvetica 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.

I’m a graphic design student in a typography class right now, so this was super interesting to me. That said, anyone interested in arts & culture would like this movie.

Good for understanding typography

An exemplary documentary, it completely blew my mind. So much so that I had to buy it, and I don't buy DVDs of documentaries (who does?). Very enjoyable.

Fascinating for people in design. Don't ever try to show it to a random group of students from various fields and expect them to stay awake, It is for a niche audience and for that audience, it is brilliant.

This is a very niche-market video, catering to those who want to learn more about the power and ubiquitous nature of the world's most successful typeface, Helvetica. If you are taking any kind of design class at the post-secondary level and need to know more about typography, this is a must-see video. Interviews with designers are entertaining and informative. Director Gary Hustwit is a genius and we look forward to more movies.

Saw the shortened version on BBC 1 last night and loved it. Learning the story of the typeface and seeing how widely it's been used was fantastic. The interviews are brilliant. Buy this now...

Who knew a documentary on a font could be so interesting. This is not sarcasm, this documentary on a font is legit interesting.