lt's that idea that something's designed to. Learning about personal stories and beliefs in relation to design is a kind of magic. And they agreed. and descenders and all that kind of thing. Coke. | I use several metrics in this. And in turn Stempel was also controlled by. Helveticawas nominated for a 2008 Independent Spirit Award, and was shortlisted for the Design Museum Londons Designs of the Year Award. The documentary kept my attention to the endperhaps partly because I know so many of the players personally and have my own lifelong bond with the typeface. It not a letter that bent to shape; it's a letter that lives in a powerful matrix of surrounding space. Alfred Hoffmann: Stemple suggested the name of Helvetia, this is very important. lt's . That there are other fonts with greater history, lovelier curves, and more interesting pedigrees seems not to matter. These designers embrace its ubiquity and the challenge of making it "speak in a different way". twenties, early thirties , than at any time in, in terms of style and so on. What is bad taste ubiquitous? it's like being asked what you think about. is that they shouldn't be aware of it at all. Helvetica premiered at the South by Southwest Film Festival in March 2007. Savan makes several appearances in Gary Hustwits new film Helvetica, a feature-length documentary that uses the legendary typeface to weave a broader story about typography, graphic design, and visual culture in the last half-century. Typefaces express a mood, STANDS4 LLC, 2023. Several designers in this documentary say that it isn't so much the letters of an advertisement's slogan that matter much - it's the space in between the letters. Do Not Sell or Share my Personal Information. WebThe official trailer for "Helvetica", a documentary film by Gary Hustwit. Helvetica is a 2007 American independent feature-length documentary film about typography and graphic design, centered on the Helvetica typeface. Lars M?ller: And I think I'm right calling Helvetica the perfume of the city. I mean you can't imagine anything moving; it is so firm. It's like going to McDonald's instead of thinking about food. What we have is a climate now in which the very idea of visual communication and graphic designif we still want to call it thatis accepted by many more people, Poynor says and goes on to show us how users personalize their MySpace pages with their own choices of fonts and graphics. What are you talking about?" that Helvetica is a sort of global monster. External Reviews Helvetica examines the development and use of one of the worlds most popular typefaces. But it's also: a musing on the history of modern graphic design. It is considered the most widely-spread font in the Western world. Alfred Hoffmann: [showing book of type samples] Here are the first trials of Neue Haas Grotesk, which was the first name of Helvetica. The film Helvetica bases its story around the evolution of modernist design via the influence of the Helvetica typeface by interviewing graphic designers, type designers and influencers of the time. Directed by Gary Hustwit, it was released in 2007 to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the typeface's introduction in 1957 and is considered the first of the Design Trilogy by the director. If that sounds boring to you, well guess what, it often is. Because it's there, it's on every street corner, so let's eat crap because it's on the corner. You need to do it by photograph, you did all, And now within half an hour you have your. I found it utterly engaging. Jonathan Hoefler: And Helvetica maybe says everything, and that's perhaps part of its appeal. l think that the whole image of modernism. The film subsequently toured film festivals, special events, and art house cinemas worldwide, playing in over 300 cities in 40 countries. The average person would think it was very boring, but in fact, it was very fun and informative. but with a new set of theories to support it. By what name was Helvetica (2007) officially released in Canada in English? Unfortunately, the documentary doesn't try to extend the abilities of the filmmakers to any degree whatsoever. DNA is just a couple of letterforms like that. You know, there it is, and it seems to come from no where. Erik Spiekermann: Most people who use Helvetica, use it because it's ubiquitous. O, and one more thing, I wrote this in Times New Roman, so take that Helvetica. Metacritic Reviews. A novel idea back then to use two words close together but separated only with color. . But it turned out the thing was so fraught with legalities that I called it quits after a year and joined another venture as a staff writer. Wim Crouwel: You're always a child of your time, and you cannot step out of that. lt had its original, and his method of doing that was sort of to, than you might just assume by reading in a, You can easily say this was a joint product, But boy could you see his mind at work on, what it's all about is the interrelationship of, with the black if you like, with the inked. I just get a total kick out of it: they are my friends. The film is an exploration of urban spaces in major cities and the type that inhabits them, and a fluid discussion with renowned designers about their work, the creative process, and the choices and aesthetics behind their use of type. And, corporate identity in the sixties, that's what, piles of goofy old brochures from the fifties, and all it implies, and this is what we're, they'd have a crisp bright white piece of, Can you imagine how bracing and thrilling, with your mouth just caked with filthy dust. But there's one you probably see more than any other one, and that's Helvetica. '', This was everywhere in the Fifties, this is, You cut to - this is after Helvetica was in. Hustwit on his inspiration for the film: "When I started this project, I couldn't believe that a film like this didn't exist already, because these people are gods and goddesses. They wanted to get away from the orderly, the horrible slickness of it all, as they saw it, lf l see a brochure now, with lots of white, that has like six lines of Helvetica up on the, the overall communication that says to me, l probably was the last generation who got, ln general, l was always fairly bored, you, lt just didn't seem a very interesting task to. Certain bands l buy. Helvetia is the Latin name of Switzerland. l don't know. Architects and designers from top firms along with influencers and experts will examine strengths and weaknesses of current design thinking and practices, exploring issues like research, technology, and wellness. But my father said, lf ever l have an idea of. How much success this font would have continued to have had the computer revolution not occurred is a matter of some debate. Eduard Hoffman, as director of the Hass Foundry took on the responsibility of designing new, more versatile typeface which they originally called Neue Haas Grotesque. An excerpt of the film was exhibited at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. He believes that it was an OK typeface when it first came out but with the proliferation of computers and the use of Helvetica as a default it became over saturated and if a designer doesnt know how to give it the right space, then it has terrible flaws. to bring two or three layers into the work. Contact us and we will be happy to assist you. this has that, it feels kind of Erik Satie; Or this has a kind of belt and suspenders, and one of my favorites is these signs. Learn more about funding opportunities with ITVS. Tip #5: Fonzies Favorite Letter. I think that's where we, the consumers, are allowed to fill in the blank with our own wishes and dreams for whatever product or politician is being shown to us at that moment. I think even if they're not consciously aware of the typeface they're reading, they'll certainly be affected by it, the same way that an actor that's miscast in a role will affect someone's experience of a movie or play that they're watching. They are my, lt's a little worrying l must admit, it's a very, And l'm sure our handwriting is miles away, |Why is it fifty years later still so popular?|. In addition to serving the creative community, it is one of the largest companies marketing typefaces directly to consumers, addressing this fast-emerging chapter in the history of graphic design head-on. The designer has an enormous responsibility. . And that perfect balance sort of is saying to us - well it's not sort of, it *is* saying to us - "don't worry, any of the problems that you're having, or the problems in the world, or problems getting through the subway, or finding a bathroom all those problem aren't going to spill over, they'll be contained. illustration is already from that period, and we were impressed by that, because it, it shouldn't have a meaning in itself. With the first 20 minutes I was intrigued and interested, unfortunately as the minutes ticked by my interested faded and the intrigue had completely disappeared. Notable features of Helvetica as originally designed include a high x-height, the termination of strokes on horizontal or vertical lines and an unusually tight spacing between letters, which combine to give it a dense, compact appearance. WebHelvetica is a feature-length independent film about typography, graphic design and global visual culture. It looks at the proliferation of one typeface (which will celebrate its 50th birthday in 2007) as part of a larger conversation about the way type affects our lives. Some designers find Helvetica to be predictable and boring. lt's very hard to do the more subjective, But if l bring the same group off the street, and say, ''Okay, now let's interpret that, that nobody else could go. The letter A is another letter that you can use to help you spot Helvetica. Hearing about the different views on Helvetica is what makes this film so great. David Carson: Don't confuse legibility with communication. It looks at the proliferation of one typeface as part of a larger conversation about the way type affects our lives. of seemed there was only one trick in town, but it seemed like Helvetica had just been, and associated with so many big, faceless, that it had lost all its capacity even, to my, that this way of designing is imposing on. Its use became a Drink Coke, That is a quality they all want to convey. The creative processes of some of the worlds most influential product designers shows how the things they make impact our lives. I can't explain it. l'm not one of those people who is a real, l don't know all the fancy words for all the. Directed by Gary Hustwit, it was released in 2007 to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the typeface's introduction in 1957 and is considered the first of the Design Trilogy by the director. Helvetica is a documentary that interviews many graphic designers involved in the history or modern usage of the Helvetica typeface. just a beautiful big glass of ice-cold Coke. In my case I've never learned all the things I'm not supposed to do. An interesting film if you are a total geek such as I am, but if you are looking for Rock XX this probably wont entertain you. We finally arrive at a bank of files containing precise drawings of the letterforms (Helvetica is in binder 24). Erik Spiekermann: A real typeface needs rhythm, needs contrast, it comes from handwriting, and that's why I can read your handwriting, you can read mine. lt's been around for fifty years, coming up. that most people would just gloss over, l, The biggest thing for me in terms of design, is to get a sort of emotional response from. For example, illegible hand-made lettering and cramped cursive. From a film-making point of view, I personally wished Gary Hustwit's approach wasn't so bland. And it was many years later that someone explained to me that, basically, there was this group that spent a lot of time trying to organise things, get some kind of system going, and they saw me going in and throwing that out the window, which I might've done, but it wasn't the starting point, that wasn't the plan. The film concludes with comments on the increasing prevalence of graphic design as self expression, citing the social media website Myspace, and its feature allowing users to fully customize the styling of their page. If that is your idea of a good time, you'll love this. And I'm sure our handwriting is miles away from Helvetica or anything that would be considered legible, but we can read it, because there's a rhythm to it, there's a contrast to it. Truth is, you will learn about so much more than just a typeface when watching Helvetica, you will learn about a design era, about how life and design intertwine on a daily basis. So when people started getting upset, I didn't really understand why, I said, "What's the big deal? My father said, that's impossible, you cannot call a typeface after a name of a country. Strong and modern serif typefaces were becoming quite popular in Europe and the rest of the world for just that reason. And that's the, area to me where it gets more interesting. the more you appreciate it when it's terrific. use Helvetica is typically Dutch, l think, and that's why l'm never really impressed. Helvetica hasn't got *any* of that. It took me six months to get an issue out while juggling school and other stuff. work that was as inspiring as their work, And l wanted to make work that looked like, and l'd go to the local art store, l'd go to, album the way l thought it was supposed to, properly and thing would crackle and break, And Zagorski told me to let go of the press, l realized that type had spirit and could, that it was its own palate, a broad palate to, And l decided l would take the title literally, so l decided what l'd do is list every state, And l didn't have any scientific evidence of, so l decided to base it on the last Reagan. But it's also: a musing on the history of modern graphic design. WebHelvetica is a feature-length documentary about typography, graphic design and global visual culture. Interviewees inHelveticainclude some of the most illustrious and innovative names in the design world, including Erik Spiekermann, Matthew Carter, Massimo Vignelli, Wim Crouwel, Hermann Zapf, Neville Brody, Stefan Sagmeister, Michael Bierut, David Carson, Paula Scher, Jonathan Hoefler, Tobias Frere-Jones, Experimental Jetset, Michael C. Place, Norm, Alfred Hoffmann, Mike Parker, Bruno Steinert, Otmar Hoefer, Leslie Savan, Rick Poynor, and Lars Mller. Gary Hustwit has produced five feature documentaries, including, trifecta of design-oriented films, the second of which was. We live in a media-saturated environment that exposes us to a daily stream of visual information, and the typography that shapes these visual messages can determine how we respond. Helvetica was Hustwits directorial debut and the first of a Show more It looks at the proliferation of one typeface (which will celebrate its 50th I wrote on and off for several years, caught the designer's bug, switched over to industrial design and that led to film and studying what it means to see. Given the importance of this trend, I would have liked to hear more from the public in Hustwits film. you know, it's just there. Miedinger and Hoffman wanted their new typeface to be widely available for purchase, so they commissioned the Stempel Foundry in Germany to cut the type into metal cuts for the linotype printing press machines and therefore be sold to designers and printers in the US and the rest of the world. Developed by the Haas'sche Schriftgiesserei (Haas Type Foundry) of Mnchenstein, Switzerland, its release was planned to match a trend: a resurgence of interest in turn-of-the-century "grotesque" sans-serifs among European graphic designers, that also saw the release of Univers by Adrian Frutiger the same year. Amazingly, most of us walked out in wonder. our archives where we can find Helvetica. There is a global conspiracy scheming to control the general populace that is run by the most unlikely suspects: graphic designers. and l was like, oh man, how disappointing, And l went through all my fonts, which at, uhm, well, it still is for that matter, and, And l finally came to the bottom and there, which of course now it's Zapf Dingbats so. beautiful out of something very ordinary. Period. This film is a real gift to graphic designers, and it is an eye-opener to a public that cares about fonts more than we might expect. I first became aware of typographythe very idea of itwhen I was in the eighth grade. WebSur des documents fantaisistes tels que des invitations, l'utilisation d'une police de caractres script peut tre spectaculaire, mais sur des livres pour enfants, elle peut donner l'impression de ne pas tre la hauteur, et en cas de texte trop important, elle It looks at the proliferation of one typeface as part of a larger conversation l lived in that period. And we expected to walk out of the 2-hour class bored-stiff. Switzerland use the font as its hallmark for example, Erik Spiekermann: It's air, you know. Erik Spiekermann is not a lover of Helvetica, he sees it as a choice in bad taste. Hello??? What they do is more than just logos and corporate branding - they design the type that we read every day in newspapers and magazines, onscreen and on television. Massimo Vignelli: You can say, "I love you," in Helvetica. because it's half straight and half round; which is another vertical dimension that l, lf you've got an h you've got an awful lot of, lf you've got a p you've got q and b and d, And then just as soon as possible l would, something is so critical in judging it as a, because l find that is the acid test of how a, is these horizontal terminals, you see in the, It's very hard for a designer to look at these, before it was Helvetica. designing will be still being used in twenty, l got married about three years ago. lt, The way something is presented will define, define our reaction to that message in the, So if it says, buy these jeans, and it's a, or to be sold in some kind of underground. They give words a certain coloring. Helvetica (the documentary): a summary and an opinionated review A documentary about a font seems like a wonderfully geeky idea. Both logos work and both logos are timeless. Michael Bierut: It's The Real Thing. Being the geek I am, when I first heard the title, I was there! Hustvit spoke to numerous designers and typographers to examine why the typeface, developed in 1957 at the Haas Foundry in Switzerland, became so ubiquitous. l tried to use typefaces from van Doesburg. Fortunately for us, Gary Hustwit did not stop creating films about design with Helvetica, he went on to create a Design Trilogy. Massimo Vignelli: You can say, "I love you," in Helvetica. Mike Parker: When you talk about the design of Haas Neue Grotesk or Helvetic, what it's all about is the interrelationship of the negative shape, the figure-ground relationship, the shapes between characters and within characters, with the black, if you like, with the inked surface. Our profession has long been built on the cult of the insiders expertise, but now the tools we usefrom fonts to Photoshopare widely employed outside the discipline. Web. In honor of the 50th Anniversary of the birth of Helvetica, director Gary Hustwit released his documentary film about this typeface and the design legacy that came along with it. Some of his subjects praise the clarity and versatility of Helvetica, while others bristle at how overused it is. It was by far, the most NOT-boring documentary i've ever seen. l know you got exactly what l was saying. Now you might think this is a dry and boring subject (as I did before I saw the film) but it is in fact a and then someone is offering you a clear, refreshing, distilled, icy glass of water. And what they were against was Helvetica. Helvetica is probably the most popular typeface on Earth today, after its invention in 1957 by Max Meidinger and Eduard Hoffman at the Haas Type Foundry, Switzerland. WebHelvetica is a feature-length independent film about typography, graphic design and global visual culture. who'd been one of the Sixties' high priests, it's right there in the name, Unimark, the, to his way of thinking irrational new way of, lt seemed like the barbarians were not only, ln the '70s, the young generation was after, by using all kinds of typefaces that came. The film toured around the world for screenings in selected venues, such as the IFC Center in New York, the Institute of Contemporary Arts London, the Gene Siskel Film Center in Chicago, and the Roxie Cinema in San Francisco. The fact that a movie about Helvetica could have such wide appeal speaks to this cultural shift. well, it's like a person, if you are slightly, you're not going to walk around in tight T-, And Helvetica is heavy in the middle. Interviews of famous designers take up a majority of the film, Massimo Vignelli by far being the most compelling. And it seems to be, the appreciation of typefaces is changing, has a different meaning than we grabbed a. typeface in the fifties for a certain job. It looks at the A visit to favorite graphic designs of years past. WebHelvetica documentary feature - 2007 - 80 minutes Helvetica is a feature-length documentary about typography, graphic design and global visual culture. It asks easy answers and delivers easy homilies, much like its subject matter safe and accepted and common. The process of creating a typeface fascinated the director, so he set forth to illuminate the underappreciated discipline. It is indeed a film about looking, as the camera repeatedly picks out the fonts beloved characters in various states of well-being, from crisp new highway signs to letters peeling off the Berlin Wall. About food the geek I am, when I first heard the title, I said, that run. Know all the said, lf ever l have an idea of a country me it! Stemple suggested the name of a good time, and one more,... 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