Hell-Vetica

I appreciate the history of things as much as the next guy. Especially something that has had such lasting effects in art and design, but this movie got a little long winded. Maybe it's because I'm a young American in a got to have it, got to have it now culture, but I got SO bored. That is why I'm calling this movie, HELL-VETICA!!!

In contemporary times, there are type faces everywhere. We are completely saturated with product pitches and bombarded with information. We either notice something or we don't based on how effective the pitch. Since what they want you to know is in text form, they have to choose a type face, and Helvetica is it. It's the big dog, the everywhere versatile font that is locked down tight. Many have tried to improve on it, but, supposedly it can't be done.

Massimo Vengelli said that Design fights against ugliness of visual disease, and that in Helvetica, it's the space between that really matters. In the 1950's when helvetica was first appearing, it had ALOT of ugliness to fight. It was after the war and people needed something differnt, less wordy, more streamline. Designers wanted a font that Loudly and clearly states modernism. There was a sense of social responsibility to, fix the kinks, smooth out the wrinkles, and the forefront of this idealist movement, were the uber-efficent Swiss. What kind of type would the Swiss come up with? A neutral one, naturally. Designers of the time felt a good type face should be neutral, there should be no meaning in the type face, it should be in the context of the text.

At Haas type foundry, Edward Hoffman was looking for a modern version of another kind of type, Neuo Haas Grotesque. Max Miedinger, who was a salesman at the time, was one of the key roles of the development of Helvetica. They needed a new name for the font, something to compliment its streamlined nature, and to elude to its origins. Helvetia is the latin name for Switzerland. Add a (ICA) and, wham-o, a legend is born.

This pretty much wiped all the old bad typography habits of the 1950's off the bored. The zanny hand lettered swatch typography, with muttled contrive concepts were re[placed by a Cleaner, strait forward approach, that worked.
It worked, it worked so well, infact, that corporations and government offices could not wait to adopt it. Helvetica diluted the authoritarian look of them and made them seem more acessable and open. Tax forms use it. The EPA uses it. Even Nasa uses it! American Airlines adopted it in the 50's and is the only major airline who hasn't altered their logo. Jeep, BMW, Toyota, Kawasaki, Nestle, Verizon, Target, JCPenny, ORAL B GEL FOR GODS SAKE! E-v-e-r-y-o-n-e uses it. It could work for them, and everyone else, because it invites open interpretation. All you have to do is alter the size, color, and spacing to say your unique message.

So of course it became Industry standard. It became convoluted in the eyes of the next design generation. It became the Default with no rythem or contrast in a world who needed more of those things. After is started to save the image of the big Corporations and Government it started to be represenetaive of them. Associated with Capitalism? You betcha. Like anything, the more it's used and played out the more predictable and dull it becomes. Routine.

So there was a big rebellion of Helvetica (and this is where I start to wish the movie was edited more, Though I of course understand the importance of showing both sides of the point). Blah blah blah, new generation of designs want to depart from it, nothing works quite as well as it, everyone realizes Helvetica isn't a choice, that it just IS and should have a place in design.

Design is a system. The written word is a system. Like any system it thrives on being efficent. It seems like the peek was already reached in the 1950's and theres no where to go from here but down.