There are many documentaries and movies, you just don't want to see again (e.g. "Art & Copy" (2009)) but the film "Helvetica" definitely isn't one of them. I've seen the film before, yet learned something new each time. I've always liked the font Helvetica, as it is so practical. But I do admit, that it has become some sort of a routine when choosing a font, which was mentioned as one of the problems in the film. I do believe that when choosing a font you need to take the context in consideration and, therefore, I must disagree with Massimo Vignelli, who only considers 6 typefaces to be usable. I do like his "all humanity stripped away" style and approach to design, but as a graphic designer, I feel as if we're obligated to explore and experiment, keeping our options open. If there is a way of avoiding the basic typefaces like Arial, Helvetica, Futura and Gill Sans, I would. Sometimes it just seems impossible, as it is so easy to take the shortcut by using Helvetica and still making your design look bearable. Experimental Jetset was a very interesting example of a group of designers who only used Helvetica in their designs. I liked their concept, but in my opinion they are losing so many good opportunities by just using one typeface instead of looking for other options.
After watching this film it made me love Paula Scher, Erik Spiekermann and David Carson even more. I loved how cool and laid-back Paula Scher was and it was interesting to hear about her art school memories by explaining how she never really quite knew what to do with type and after taking advice from her professor, she started illustrating type. David Carson was my ultimate favorite. He made me laugh out loud (also known as "lol") when he was talking about students writing essays about his work and analyzing some specific details of the work as if they were intentional, when in reality they were just accidental. Also, when he was pointing at some of the words on the wall saying: "this does not look caffeinated!" was hilarious. Erik Spiekermann on the other hand, is quite a personality. I loved his ûberpassionate attitude towards typography and his almost neurotic hand movements and gestures whenever he got a bit excited. I'm pretty sure I will look more into these designers as they impressed me with not only their talent, but also their lovable personalities.
I don't know whether I have changed my opinion about Helvetica as a typeface. I don't even know if I ever even had an opinion. It doesn't exactly annoy me that it is used everywhere. I wouldn't say that whoever uses Helvetica has bad taste, it always depends on the context. But if the context provided lots of design opportunities and the designer decides to go with Helvetica without even considering another typeface, I'd say this designer either lacks of creativity or is just simply lazy, or both! Whatever the case, I've learned that there are a lot of great typefaces out there. Not just Helvetica.
No comments:
Post a Comment