Helvetica

(Otherwise known as Neue Haas Grotesk)

A few days ago I finally got around to updating my X-Box to the new Live Experience. The new interface doesn't really add to the whole "experience," but it does offer a new feature that's given my 360 a new use. X-Box Live now lets you stream Netflix movies from your "Watch Instantly" queue, right onto your TV. Needless, to say, this is all I've been doing for the last few days.

Last night I watched Gary Hustwit's 2007 documentary Helvetica, a film that describes the history and the uses of the eponymous font. Originally created in 1975 by Max Miedinger and Edward Hoffmann at the Swiss Haas Type Foundry, it exploded in the design world in the sixties, and it's recently seen a resurgence thanks to brands like American Apparel. The documentary had interviews with a host of designers that belong to one of two camps: either they love the font, or they hate it with a passion. However, all of them agreed on a few key points. First, it's a very neutral font – so much so that its detractors say it's emotionless. Second, Helvetica's ubiquitous. The film showed plenty of examples of where the font can be found in the everyday world. For instance, Target's logo, the American Airlines Logo, and all of New York City's street signs are in one form of Helvetica or another. If you've seen any of the posters I've made in the last year, it's no secret that Helvetica is probably my favorite font. There's a nice tension between how plain it is and how unique it is – you can instantly tell it's Helvetica, as opposed to Arial. It's unassuming enough to be used in conjunction with an image, and interesting enough to be the only element in the design. In the documentary, one designer explained that he likes using Helvetica because it challenges him to create something new out of something so common. I appreciate it for the same reason. Instead of pencil or paint, it's like creating imagery using Helvetica as a medium. It's an essential design element, like a stripe or a dot.

Here are some of my favorite uses of Helvetica that I've seen:

Paul Sahre's cover design for Chuck Klosterman's Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs. Helvetica "sits" perfectly on top of the photography and commands just enough presence to make the copy noticeable without being the focus. A few of the designers in the film explained that Helvetica has the perfect balance of positive space (the font itself) and negative space (everything around it).

Experimental Jetset's oft-imitated Beatles shirt. Helvetica's just a "solid" font (it's actually kind of fat). Structurally, it's strong enough to be the only thing on the shirt.

And finally, Linotype's Helbotica. This is just really cool.

When the Apocalyptic ice storm hit the West Coast a few days ago, I was stuck in Yreka, California overnight, en route back to the Pac-N-Dub from Los Angeles. In my room at the "Comfort" Inn, I watched King of the Hill (one of my favorite animated TV shows) and saw, to my repulsion, that the Fox channel is using Helvetica as their main font. I might have to re-evaluate my love of Helvetica if they keep up this pedestrian mess (to sound as snobby as possible).