Helvetica: A Documentary, A History, An Anthropology. It just makes my words visible. Some designers condemn this development as the death of quality and the rise of mediocrity, while others see it as a potentially revolutionary expansion of design markets and creativity. Helvetica is a 2007 American independent feature-length documentary film about typography and graphic design, centered on the Helvetica typeface. l'd love to do the uniforms, or you know, seats and the whole thing, the trucks and. WebHelvetica is a feature-length independent film about typography, graphic design and global visual culture. But my father said, lf ever l have an idea of. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); document.getElementById( "ak_js_2" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); WatchDocumentaries.com | Games | Quizzes | Contact |Privacy & Terms | Manage Cookies |Advertise | DMCA. The film subsequently toured film festivals, special events, and art house cinemas worldwide, playing in over 300 cities in 40 countries. Bands and musicians that contributed to the documentary's soundtrack include Four Tet, The Album Leaf, Kim Hiorthy, Caribou, Battles, Sam Prekop of The Sea and Cake, and El Ten Eleven. or aesthetically or culturally or politically. Being the geek I am, when I first heard the title, I was there! Helvetica is a neo-grotesque or realist design, one influenced by the famous 19th century typeface Akzidenz-Grotesk and other German and Swiss designs. Its use became a hallmark of the International Typographic Style that emerged from the work of Swiss designers in the 1950s and 60s, becoming one of the most popular typefaces of the 20th century. The process of creating a typeface fascinated the director, so he set forth to illuminate the underappreciated discipline. Below is an edited transcript of an interview by James Pallister with director Gary Hustwit at the Boundary Hotel, Shoreditch on the 17 April, the afternoon after the . Metacritic Reviews. It looks at the proliferation of one typeface as part of a larger conversation about the way type affects our lives. There is a global conspiracy scheming to control the general populace that is run by the most unlikely suspects: graphic designers. If you are an aspiring designer and have not yet watched Helvetica, it is time you do so. that is a sort of a late-modernist thing. Helvetica is a 2007 American independent feature-length documentary film about typography and graphic design, centered on the Helvetica typeface. 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. He states that a hand-drawn font may be harder to read intentionally to communicate emphasis to the reader. it's the whole, the guy who designed it tried to make all. In addition to showing at AIGA chapter events and schools of art and design, the documentary has played at film festivals including Hot Docs, Full Frame, SXSW, and even the International Istanbul Film Festival. Helvetica premiered at the South by Southwest Film Festival in March 2007. l did a little credit to give thanks to Max, But my wife vetoed that; l had to take it off, l think l fell into the step of Helvetica when, And l really enjoy the challenge of making. Helvetica was created in the year 1957 and was originally named Neue Haas Grotesk. At that time, I studies typefaces to make sure that my paper looked as good as it could. Coke. 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. Helveticais a cinematic 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. Erik Spiekermann: I mean, everyone puts their history into their work. As a film it's boring, but as a font movie it is amazing! At that time writing about graphic design in any general-interest publication was extraordinarily rare. This is surely the best documentary I have seen. 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. that Helvetica is a sort of global monster. The historical evolution of many of the conceptions, common conceptions, on what architecture should be, or, it seems, how graphical design should be faced, is quite similar. It was a clever device used to weave a story around graphic design, the importance of typography in the craft, and the passionate opinions on design in general elicited from this stellar cast of ber creative professionals. Interviewees in Helvetica include some of the most illustrious and innovative names in the design world, such as Erik Spiekermann, Matthew Carter, Massimo Vignelli, Wim Crouwel, Hermann Zapf, Neville Brody, Michael Bierut, Paula Scher, Tobias Frere-Jones, Bruno Steinert, Leslie Savan, Rick Poynor, and Lars Mller. Visuals for freedom of expression in Peru, How to create a vector character from sketch. 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. Before becomnig a filmmaker, he worked with punk label SST Records in the late 1980s, ran the independent book publishing house Incommunicado Press during the 1990s, was vice president of the media website Salon.com in 2000 and started the indie DVD label Plexifilm in 2001. Helvetica: Quick Facts. Vignelli is a lover of Helvetica, for its great legibility and modern design. beautiful out of something very ordinary. Designers and non-designers will learn quite a lot from this film. One of the biggest things to happen to typography in recent years is hinted at near the end of the film, when Poynor talks about how members of the general public are becoming not just a passive audience for typefaces, but users in their own right. lt's a font. Fonts are almost like the air we breathe. Period. In my case I've never learned all the things I'm not supposed to do. Helvetica examines the development and use of one of the worlds most popular typefaces. And in fact, maybe they don't exist.". Typefaces express a mood, an atmosphere. Alfred Hoffmann: Stemple suggested the name of Helvetia, this is very important. Of course not. All of us, l would suggest, are prompted in, a particular typographic choices used on a, is just, l like the look of that, that feels. If that is your idea of a good time, you'll love this. l want to go a little bit bigger scale now. The letter A is another letter that you can use to help you spot Helvetica. 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. And you can say it with Helvetica Extra Light if you want to be really fancy. Or you just get this real whooo, kind of like, One of the things l've always really wanted. Helvetica is one of the most common sans-serif typefaces, and it is used in logos for companies from Jeep to Tupperware. Once it caught on, the typeface began to be used extensively in signage, in package labeling, in poster art, in advertisingin short, everywhere. It wasn't just a film about a font. An interview with semiotic professors or cultural historians or even the man on the street wouldn't have hurt, but at least the film doesn't pretend to be something it is not. Wim Crouwel: The meaning is in the content of the text and not in the typeface, and that is why we loved Helvetica very much. 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. Helvetica emerges in that period, in 1 957, where there's felt to be a need for rational. Helvetica is a feature-length independent film about typography, graphic design and global visual culture. Designers and writers explain how Helvetica was used by government entities because it gave them both an authoritative and human aspect at the same time. It's like being asked what you think about off-white paint. Their subjects lend a nice sense of immediacy to their dialogs without being too on the edge or too indulgent (save one). It looks at the proliferation of one typeface (which will celebrate its 50th With its clean, smooth lines, it reflected a modern look that many designers were seeking. If you have a keen sense of proportion though, you should be able to see the difference. Awards Helvetica is a neo-grotesque or realist design, one influenced by the famous 19th century typeface Akzidenz-Grotesk and other German and Swiss designs. Going out on the street will never be the same again, you will find Helvetica everywhere. To work there, to do. Helveticawas nominated for a 2008 Independent Spirit Award, and was shortlisted for the Design Museum Londons Designs of the Year Award. We get some sense that people are conscious users of typography when the camera shows us young urban folk wearing font-covered clothing and accessories. I can't explain it. In a million years it would never have occurred to me to do a documentary on a type font. It's the way they reach us. 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. I found it utterly engaging. It looks at the proliferation of one typeface as part of a larger conversation You know, there it is, and it seems to come from no where. Helvetica is a beautifully created documentary about the Helvetica font. After Helvetica comes Objectified about Industrial Design and then Urbanized about architecture and urban design. l know you got exactly what l was saying. No, absolutely not. l've got to, You know, l wake up and usually l want to, l mean, everybody puts their history into. We think that Helvetica contains somehow a design program. lt will lead you to a certain language also, and this is also one of the secrets of the success of Helvetica that in itself it is already it has a certain style, a certain aesthetic that you will just use it like that, because of the typeface, because the typeface wants it like that. Learning about personal stories and beliefs in relation to design is a kind of magic. 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. A feature-length film directed by Gary Hustwit was released in 2007 to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the typeface's introduction in 1957. https://www.quotes.net/movies/helvetica_125195, https://www.quotes.net/movies/helvetica_quotes_125195. Unfortunately, the documentary doesn't try to extend the abilities of the filmmakers to any degree whatsoever. Hello??? 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. There was nothing cooler it seemed to me as a teenager than writing for a music mag, so I went out and published my own from scratch, 80 color pages. Actually, you do: Helvetica is a font, and this font is present anywhere and everywhere! Interviewees in Helvetica include 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, Lars Muller, and many more. Because all the letters . it's like being asked what you think about. This logo has stayed as the corporate identity since 1966 and has never been changed, as Massimo says why change something that is already perfect. In light of that I was interested in this documentary about the most popular typeface designed. And the Swiss pay more attention to the background, so that the counters and the space between characters just hold the letters. ln the beginning, if you see the sketches. Helveticahad its World Premiere at the South by Southwest Film Festival in March 2007. Helvetica is a documentary that interviews many graphic designers involved in the history or modern usage of the Helvetica typeface. Helvetica screened this week at the SXSW Film Festival in Austin, TX where it was very well-received. Amazingly, most of us walked out in wonder. 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. Like Helvetica itself, Hustwit's film debut is sleek, clean, and mechanical. It was subsequently broadcast on networks in 15 other countries. l lived in that period. In 2008, the documentary was nominated for "Truer Than Fiction Award" during the Independent Spirit Awards. This movie is brilliant. And that's the, area to me where it gets more interesting. By what name was Helvetica (2007) officially released in Canada in English? accessible, transparent, and accountable, Designers, and l think even readers, invest, And it's not just a matter of the weight they. Type is saying things to us all the time. The type in an instant, in a single image, tells the story of its making, tells you about. What are you. 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. - this movie may not be for you. Michael Bierut: It's The Real Thing. Wim Crouwel: You're always a child of your time, and you cannot step out of that. The one bad review notwithstanding this is an honest, insightful film about the most ubiquitous of fonts, Helvetica. Its cult appeal lies in seeing our profession (and our obsessions) portrayed on screen with such dignity and depth. Wherever you look, if you are aware of it or not, you are reading words in Helvetica. It is considered the most widely-spread font in the Western world. That there are other fonts with greater history, lovelier curves, and more interesting pedigrees seems not to matter. Think about off-white paint fonts with greater history, lovelier curves, and art house cinemas,! It 's boring, but as a font, and you can say it with Helvetica Light... Does n't try to extend the abilities of the Helvetica font documentary does try. A typeface fascinated the director, so he set forth to illuminate the underappreciated discipline that... Film about typography, graphic design and then Urbanized about architecture and urban design idea.! 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