Helvetica - the movie
Monday, December 03, 2007
I watched Helvetica last night. Watching a movie about a typeface marks me out as a consummate geek, but it was a great documentary.
By giving lots of information about Helvetica’s development and usage, it ends up as informal history of design over the last 50 years.
Great clips from graphic designers and type designers keep things moving along, and one of the things that struck me was how different American designers use of the font was from European use.
So far from being a fascistic typeface forcing conformity on us all (as the boomer-era designers insisted), it has within it the capability to create very different moods and impressions.
Lots of Apple gear on view in the designers’ studios of course, and I really want a Freitag bag now (made from recycled truck tarpaulins and used seat belts). With some Helvetica on it, of course.