Name: Helvetica Producer: Swiss Dots Author: Gary Hustwit Year: 2007 Type is about the distance between

letters. Helvetica is "modern" typeface - the guy that designed the Subway graphics uses only about 3 and aims for legibility and cleanliness over expressiveness. He says design is "a fight against uglines s." Helvetica comes along as an extension of Swiss design in the late 50s - idealist ic. Very much about modernism. Clarity, readability, straightforwardness. "Grids are a tool for creating order, and creating order is typography." Helvetica - neutral typeface. No meaning of itself - meaning in the context of t he text not the typeface. A real step from the 19th century typeface. Doing away with manual details. Most type designers start with a lower case h to get a feel for: - serif/not serif - Is there a lot of fixian contrast? - What are proportions? Then o, to look at round, then p for a straight, round, and descending. Reading is the acid test for how a typeface performs. Design of typeface is about the figure-ground relationship of the type to the ba ckground. Original renaming was based on the Latin name for Switzerland - changed slightly to not be quite so bold to Helvetica. Michael Beirut should marry Helvetica. Governments and corporations like that it seems neutral, efficient, and human. A ccessible, transparent, accountable. Our tax forms are in Helvetica! It invites open interpretation. Modernist typeface interpretation - "Crystal goblet" that holds anything you put in it. But another view is that choosing a typeface is like choosing an actor f or the role. There's something about it that has some finality to it, but its wide availabili ty might also explain its ubiquitousness. There's some push back to this, though. It's like "air" so there's little choice ; momentum keeps it going. Typefaces are a brand. Choice of typeface is the prime weapon for instant response in communication. In a way, Helvetica is a badge for the club of modern society. Safe, fit in. Per fect balance that says "don't worry." Conformity. Sameness. "Helvetica is the perfume of the city."

Law of diminishing returns - the more you see it and the more it's used, it beco mes more dull and predictable. What came out of idealism became merely routine a nd a change was needed.