The film Helvetica was one of the most dangerous pieces of propaganda that has happened to typographic design in years. It may even have the power to set back the development of typography fifty years. By participating (and even criticizing Helvetica) in the film, many of the most well known designers in the world such as Neville Brody, Eric Speakerman, Stefan Saggmeister and Paula Scher have sanctioned a film that will no doubt have a very powerful influence on our young designers working towards graduating from college.

Instead of promoting the work of great contemporary American and European Type Foundries such as Hoeffler Frere and Font Bureau in New York or the work of Ourtype and Preusstype in Germany - guys who are defining the field of humanist typography with beautiful and well balanced fonts influenced by our social times and way of living, VFS and the GDC decided to sanction and promote a documentary film that discusses a typographic milestone that was very important for it’s time but is irrelevant and obsolete now. The thing about Modernism is that it sought to deny character or personality in its reach for a purist and neutral design idiom. I understand why this was so important at the time in the 20th century but I don’t agree that it is still relevant today.

My great concern is that we will never be free of modernity and that great and important moves have been made since Swiss Modernism that are not being taught in art and design schools. For example the older designers in the documentary spoke at length about how fresh and new and exciting Helvetica was when it was first released and how everybody wanted to get their hands on it and use it. All very well but I remember when Eric Speakerman released Meta in 1990 and myself and all of my student contemporaries felt exactly the same way – we breathed a huge sigh of relief because we were sick of being told about Swiss Modernism and here was the new era being ushered in – a classy and elegant but edgy revolution in typography from one of the worlds greatest designers – and we were so excited about it and wanted to know where we could get our hands on it.

Similarly when the Font Bureau released Interstate in the 90’s it became the most used font in America and Europe – it had this massive effect on designers and we welcomed it in with open arms because it spoke the language of the social times we lived in – and although Interstate is still very important we should now look to what these designers are doing today for our influences. In 2002 Tobias Frere-Jones, a native New Yorker, took inspiration from the industrial signage that had been slowly torn down from the New York warehouses in favor of new developments to create the simple and enigmatic font Gotham – when I learned that it had been used as the typeface for the cornerstone to the Freedom Tower I almost cried. Something very relevant had happened and Pentagram the design group who selected the font and designed the stone had hit on a powerful New York nerve to create this communication. What would have happened had they selected Helvetica? Their pride would have been rendered in a style from Switzerland dating back fifty years. It would have been irrelevant and worse still, an insult to New Yorkers.

I am constantly on the look out for new type developments in both Europe and America and feel strongly that our students should be educated about the history of type design but also about contemporary design developments in typography – and I know for a fact that this is not happening – either from the GDC or from Emily Carr (who have 3 credits devoted to it in the final year or their Comms program) or at VFS. Guys – it is your responsibility to see that our young designers are in touch with what’s happening today and it is our responsibility to support the amazing work going on in contemporary type design. I have been saying this for a long time now and I have now finally decided to take action. Let’s see this ridiculous documentary film as what it is, a historical archive of a once relevant era, and then lets move on and quickly forget about it please? There’s a hell of a lot of great design to do and a hell of a lot of wonderful typography to discover. Just try these for size:

http://www.typography.com Check out Gotham and Mercury
http://www.fontbureau.com – Check out Interstate
http://www.ourtype.com - Check out Sansa
http://www.preusstype.com – check out Phoenica

My name is Dougal Muir and I am a Partner in the Design and Communications agency Alchemy Creative Group. I also externally examine graduating classes from the VFS Digital Design program. I studied design under Nick Bell at LCP in London from 1989-1992. I am still very much in love with type.

Both the previous two comments touch on what appears to be a hot-point in the field of design; the usage of Helvetica. During classes with Robin Mitchell, it was made clear to us that while many students like to use Helvetica as it looks very clean and “modern,” the font itself is rather old (celebrating its 50th year anniversary!). She encouraged us to explore other options and to really think about what type face we were selecting and why.

As a student, I felt that the film was quite a lot more than simply a glorification of Helvetica. As Hustwit said, the film was originally going to be a simple survey of the usage of Helvetica, but ended up growing into a larger project as he did interviews with the various designers. To me, the film expresses two primary messages; first, it establishes a historical benchmark of an extremely influential font as well as looking at the diversity inherent in our chosen profession and second it gives an overview of what it means to be a graphic designer.

If the film was simply a glorification of Helvetica, why else would there be such conflicting arguments made in the interviews? For example, contrast the interview with Massimo Vignelli who said that he would only use two or three fonts (and Helvetica is perfect) with designers like David Carson who looks at straight Helvetica and feels that it has no link to the meaning of the word at all or the other designers who felt Helvetica was overdone and chose to make use of other fonts. All of them agreed that Helvetica was extremely crucial and important, but expressed their wide opinions on its contemporary usage. In particular, I found it interesting when individuals like Michael C. Place showed some of the work he produced with Helvetica in which he changed the letters to produce an interesting logo. How would that resonate with Massimo Vignelli? I imagine he might be rather disgusted that Helvetica was so altered. But that’s what makes us designers; the ability to think creatively and uniquely.

I’m afraid I don’t remember the interviews as well as I would like to really talk about the discussion on what it means to be a graphic designer, but many of the interviewees had very interesting views on the profession. Massimo Vignelli discussed making something beautiful that was ugly and David Carson talked about experimenting and making text represent more than just words. These different opinions and thoughts about design leads to discussion and truly makes sure that the field of design stays as a creative hot-pot. I also remember one of the audience members asking if she could show the film to her clients as a way of getting them to understand what she was trying to do with her designs for them. This is a film that designers can understand and resonate with, even if one loves or hates Helvetica as well as a film that non designers can watch and get a sense of what all is going on behind the scenes.

Ultimately, I must agree with Mark Busse’s comments above when he says “Helvetica, the film and typeface, is only a starting point. A conversation starter. And with some luck, Hustwit’s film will inspire more young people to fall in love with type and explore all it has to offer.” I don’t feel the urge to use Helvetica any more than I did before (I personally love the humanist typefaces more), but I do feel more love for typography and appreciate the value of it even more. In all likelihood, I will never achieve the love of type that Eric Spiekermann has reached, but I really want to immerse myself more and more in the field. Thus, I am really looking forward to the advanced print class in my final term at VFS and the opportunity to learn more.

Personally, I would love a film like this about every typeface. It is fascinating to look at the origins and history of type as well as how it has been modified and affected over the years by young graphic designers. Perhaps some day we’ll get the chance to see an in depth exploration of the origins of comic sans.

My name is Aaron Bell and I’m a term 4 Digital Design student at VFS. You can also google me; I’m somewhere among the large corporations and the tattoo parlor in Seattle.

Dunno, but perhaps somebody should warn the folks at Kartemquin Films who are apparently working on a documentary called TYPEFACE about cultural preservation, rural renewal and graphic design history in the midwest. Sounds dangerous to me. :-)

Maybe design and type films is a new genre?

I had a different reaction than Dougal did. I think that by examining the Helvetica-era (that is, the period in which Helvetica, and the International Type Style, came to prominence) and its subsequent effect on typographic culture, the film actually places Helvetica, and modernist typography in general, in a historical context. The effect is contrary to what I think Dougal fears. In this way, I find the film to be a very valuable teaching tool (or I hope it will be), because no matter what I say or do, I have students who see modernist typography as modern (contemporary). I think the film is also valuable as an introduction to typography as a general practice for the general public. I think that’s great.

Some of the designers interviewed were pretty hostile to Helvetica, actually. Can any give a stronger condemnation of a typeface than to suggest it is responsible for war?! I do think the film was an affectionate look at Helvetica, which is as it should be. There is room in typography for a wide range of styles and approaches, and Swiss Style is solid. I would hate to see it thrown completely aside. I see it as something to build on. Contemporary type founderies have used Helvetica as a template for typographic excellence and innovation(such as Porchez’s Parisine), taking advantage of Helvetica’s legibility and simplicity. Understanding history is a very important part of contemporary design. It helps up develop solid theory instead of just being slaves to trend and commerce.

I personally love Helvetica, but I can count on one hand the number of times I have used it. The film didn’t change that, but it did make me laugh, and I think it inspires discussion and debate (evidently!) about typography.

[…] The Vancouverite points out a heated debate over on the VFS site, even Helvetica’s director weighs in. August 14th, […]