November 06, 2007
helvetica
If you're seeking some suggestions for celebrating Helvetica's 50th birthday, might I recommend a trip to New York's Museum of Modern Art, which is presenting an exhibition devoted to the typeface? To mark the occasion, the MOMA acquired an original set of 36-point lead Helvetica letterforms. Of course, I don't need to tell you to fly American Airlines to get there (their fuselage bears the grand imprint of Helvetica, as does and Lufthansa). Those looking to save money might consider renting a Toyota from National, or taking a Greyhound or Amtrak to New York (all of the aforementioned companies use Helvetica in their logos). Once in Manhattan, don't forget to take a ride on the subway system, whose signage utilizes – you guessed it. And be sure to sip some VitaminWater, shop at American Apparel, and memorialize it all with your Olympus camera (powered with Energizer batteries), since all of these products boast Neue Haas Grotesk, as Helvetica was originally named.If, by now, you are scratching your head, mumbling about how you thought Helvetica was supposed to be opening for The Killers, don't feel bad. (And, perhaps more importantly, don't stop reading this essay.) Helvetica's lack of name-brand recognition is not your fault. Typography is considered an invisible art, and Helvetica's ubiquity makes it even easier for it to disappear into the background, overshadowed by the meaning of the words it makes visible.
more from The Smart Set here.
Posted by Morgan Meis at 09:43 AM | Permalink
Comments
"At the risk of being a film spoiler, the history of typography is not steeped in sex, murder or intrigue."
Well, there's always Eric Gill's shenanigans.
Posted by: Sagredo | Nov 6, 2007 1:04:01 PM
Scaled up, Futura is more beautiful, and more beautifully mid-century.
Posted by: Elatia Harris | Nov 6, 2007 1:24:02 PM
"Well, there's always Eric Gill's shenanigans."
Well I prefer my Gill sans shenanigans. DIN Mittelschrift & Engschrift are nice as well, but there is a reason Helvetica Neue is the most overused font set on the planet. After Comic Sans, that is.
Posted by: Carlos | Nov 6, 2007 3:58:45 PM
Skip the relatively lame piece at MoMa unless you were going there anyway. It occupies a tiny corner of one gallery. I was very disappointed.
You'd be better off buying a type specimen or sample book from eBay and basking in its beauty.
Or just walk around town with a friend or loved one and turn it into a game. Can you imagine a Helvetica pub crawl?! "American Apparel on the billboard!" (ducks into nearest bar for a shot).
Posted by: David | Nov 6, 2007 5:32:14 PM
Thanks David. I was actually thinking about planning a trip in around it. Guess I'll find some other excuse. Need a new restaurant to try too. Last month it was René Pujol but no museum, who can move after eating two whole quail!
Posted by: Carlos | Nov 6, 2007 5:42:52 PM
Sorry. I was remiss.
Helvetica pub crawl == yes!;
Posted by: Carlos | Nov 6, 2007 9:24:12 PM
Futura scaled up is prettier than Helvetica, but it seems one first perceives its difference from Helvetica, and then sees beauty, and its mid-century date, in that difference.
Posted by: Sagredo | Nov 7, 2007 12:00:28 AM
Sagredo, that's a cogent point. But I was aware of Futura -- by its looks, not by its name -- before I was aware of Helvetica. Futura was the font of my father's letterhead, and that of many other mid-century law, medical and architectural practices. Often it would be scaled up to 5 inches high, to write the name of the firm on a wall. Futura was popular too for addresses -- the numbers you would see on mid-century modern buildings, residential and commercial. Helvetica seemed to come in later, on a graphic design wave. I could be wrong, but that's the way I remember it.
Posted by: Elatia Harris | Nov 7, 2007 12:21:04 AM
Stanley Kubrick's favorite typeface was Helvetica. Wes Anderson's is Futura...Film directors given over to the auteur approach tend get quite wrapped up in questions surrounding typeface.
David; I love the Helvetica pub crawl...but one shudders at the arguments one might hear about three or four hours into the project when somebody drunkenly attempts to pass off something in Ariel Bold or the unkind taunts like, "Helvetica!?! Don't you know Humanist 521 when you see it?". Still, it's a great idea.
Posted by: Pete Chapman | Nov 7, 2007 3:33:37 AM
What I'd like to know is, have the Evolutionary Psych-wallahs figured out an explanation for the otherwise inexplicable popularity of Comic Sans? Some element of the Environment of Evolutionary Adaptedness that selected for a preference for bad typography?
In other news: do you cringe at anachronistic typefaces in the movies? Mourn the loss of Highway Gothic? Wish there was an Academy Award for best opening title sequence? If so, you could be suffering from TASD (Typographic Attention Surplus Disorder)
Posted by: Vicki Baker | Nov 7, 2007 11:11:43 AM
Vicki, without being an Evolutionary Psych-wallah, only a typography obsessive, I have long pondered that question. My personal take on the otherwise inexplicable popularity of Comic Sans is that it looks both informal and gender-neutral. That it is neither beautiful nor easy to scan must be subordinate to the more politicized issues its choice reflects.
Posted by: Elatia Harris | Nov 7, 2007 11:26:43 AM
There's no excuse for Comic Sans other than the frustrated "creativity" of purchasers of Windoze PC systems.
Posted by: Carlos | Nov 7, 2007 10:38:15 PM
Post a comment