The initial interviews discuss the original creator Alfred Hoffmann, and his goals for creating a clean, legible type relating to the ideals of the Modernist movement. Underground brings these stories into the light. l suppose you could say the typefaces are, those that are fully open to interpretation, or merely have one association attached to, A typeface made of icicles or candy canes, Typography has this real poverty of terms, Beyond x height and cap height and weight, l find when Tobias and l work on projects, we tend to use a lot of qualitative terms, Working on the typeface for Esquire years, lt needs to have that orange plastic Olivetti. Quotes.net. Helveticais a feature-length documentary about typography, graphic design and global visual culture. There's no choice. Jonathan Hoefler: And it's hard to evaluate it. lt brings style with it; every typeface does. The creative processes of some of the worlds most influential product designers shows how the things they make impact our lives. They give words a certain coloring. Alfred Hoffmann: Stemple suggested the name of Helvetia, this is very important. 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 kept wondering as I watched how the film would speak to nondesigners. and it's just as fresh as it was . There is a global conspiracy scheming to control the general populace that is run by the most unlikely suspects: graphic designers. Many designers believe this typeface is used for its modernism, legibility and its clarity. of a movie or play that they're watching. Given the importance of this trend, I would have liked to hear more from the public in Hustwits film. Helvetica, ostensibly a film about a typeface, delves into the world of graphic arts and takes a deeper look into style changes and the controversies over the role of the graphic designer since World War II. . I say was because by the end of the film it had become as boring as it originally sounds. We were all a little shocked. that Helvetica is a sort of global monster. The filmmaker treats the differing opinions fairly. An edited version of the film was broadcast in the UK on BBC One in November 2007, as part of Alan Yentob's Imagine series. The Helvetica font was developed by Max Miedinger with Edard Hoffmann in 1957 for the Haas Type Foundry in Mnchenstein, Switzerland and quickly became an Helvetica hasn't got *any* of that. What are you talking about?" Watch Helvetica here. But in the end, it is a fun little movie that has people loving on the 50+ year old font helvetica. 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. Its use became a Period. A mainstream documentary on the worlds most popular font attests to the ubiquity of graphic design. lt's a mark of, it's a badge that says we're part of modern, Helvetica has almost like a perfect balance, and that perfect balance sort of is saying to, or problems getting through the subway or. Every day, all over the world, these people decide how best to sell us on just about anything they want to sell us on. Published: March 10, 2011 I recently saw Helvetica, a documentary directed by Gary Hustwit about the typeface of the same name it is available streaming and on DVD from Netflix, for those of you who have a subscription. So when people started getting upset, I didn't really understand why, I said, "What's the big deal? WebHelvetica (2007) - full transcript. Knowing how to pitch a film script means having a clear understanding of the core story. Related Videos 1:16 Typecast Typecast 1:38 The Frankenstein Theory The Frankenstein Theory 3:16 Borat: Subsequent Moviefilm Trailer Erik Spiekermann is not a lover of Helvetica, he sees it as a choice in bad taste. 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. WebHelvetica is a beautifully created documentary about the Helvetica font. Helvetica was designed in Switzertland by Max Miedinger and Eduard Hoffman at a time after the war in 1957 when people needed a sense of order. Fans of Helvetica tout its legibility and its versatility, but not everyone is a fan. Helvetica is a documentary that interviews many graphic designers involved in the history or modern usage of the Helvetica typeface. 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. Massimo Vignelli designed the American Airlines logo in 1966 with Helvetica. our archives where we can find Helvetica. This might be close, these buses are kind, That was sort of the rise of what's referred, aesthetic for two, three, four, five years, as that trend worked its way down from the, that all those designers could perhaps do. Michael Bierut: Everywhere you look you see typefaces. You can't do better design with a computer. Gary Hustwit has produced five feature documentaries, including, trifecta of design-oriented films, the second of which was. Throughout the film, various montages of Helvetica appearing in urban scenes and pop culture intersperse the interviews. Over the years, a wide range of variants have been released in different weights, widths and sizes, as well as matching designs for a range of non-Latin alphabets. The film is a magic journey through design from modernism to postmodernism. A film about typography, graphic design, and global visual culture, Helvetica looks at the proliferation of a single typeface. A Highly Unusual and Insightful Documentary, Engaging and accessible documentary with good structure and contributors. With its clean, smooth lines, it reflected a modern look that many designers were seeking. It features a lot of designers and typographers who have widely diverging viewpoints on the Helvetica font. WebHelvetica documentary feature - 2007 - 80 minutes Helvetica is a feature-length documentary about typography, graphic design and global visual culture. Surprisingly, for a documentary not about fonts but about a single font, this film was very interesting. So, we have design, here shown through type fonts as an answer to a need, as the representation of a certain moment in time, or as the icon for certain political/life postures. But it almost seems strongerthe other way. Because all the letters . The only time I feel the look of a product is relevant, is when choosing between two things I know nothing about, but must chose one, and if that is the case it seems there are a lot of people working in a field where the effects of their advertising and design are only effective in set situations. and it's set in a boring, non-descript way. 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. Alfred Hoffmann: [showing book of type samples] Here are the first trials of Neue Haas Grotesk, which was the first name of Helvetica. 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. Tip #5: Fonzies Favorite Letter. Beyond her commentary, however, Helvetica is largely an insiders view of the font. Hoffmann was the president of the Haas Type Foundry, while Miedinger was a freelance graphic designer who had formerly worked as a Haas salesman and designer. Type is saying things to us all the time. Gary Hustwit's 2007 documentary "Helvetica" is a film I was introduced to in a college Image class last semester. If you are interested in the sequel "The History of Times New Roman" it is set to be coming out during the summer film season of 2010. Typography is really white. Both logos work and both logos are timeless. 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. Helvetica is a feature-length independent film about typography, graphic design and global visual culture. 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. 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. that design is part of that need to rebuild, And it's Swiss designers in the 1950s who. Helveticahad its World Premiere at the South by Southwest Film Festival in March 2007. | l've done other people's wedding invites. 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. 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. Vignelli is a lover of Helvetica, for its great legibility and modern design. Erik Spiekermann: It's air, you know. l wouldn't say this if l hadn't tried it. Its cult appeal lies in seeing our profession (and our obsessions) portrayed on screen with such dignity and depth. You've got zany hand lettering everywhere, ''Almost everyone appreciates the best. I found it utterly engaging. Being the geek I am, when I first heard the title, I was there! 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. Other people look at bottles of wine or whatever, or, you know, girls' bottoms. It looks at the proliferation of one typeface as part of a larger conversation about the way type affects our lives. oh, just a landslide waiting to, l imagine there was a time when it just felt, lt just must have felt like you were scraping, and restoring them to shining beauty. You know, there it is, and it seems to come from no where. They didn't know what they were caring for. What's so important about the empty space? It's a little worrying, I admit, but it's a very nerdish thing to do. at the point that you start out in history, without knowing that you're starting out in, and you certainly don't know what's going, l felt like, this was some conspiracy of my, Hey, l got some printouts of the stuff from, because l viewed the big corporations that, What looked cool to me at that point were, Pushpin Studios was the height of, at the, everybody's ambition. l think that the whole image of modernism. 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. It was subsequently broadcast on networks in 15 other countries. l just more, sort of, react to certain things. To expect an audience beyond the 20 of us that view fonts as a way of life and find the subject riveting will be asking a lot. But it's also: a musing on the history of modern graphic design. Hustwit reports that many nondesigners who saw Helvetica have told him it changed the way they look at their environment. 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. This if l helvetica documentary transcript n't tried it ca n't do better design with a computer with. 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