Watching the documentary film Helvetica made me realize how significant stories behind simple things are. Even the creation of a font type (typeface) that most of us nowadays are commonly using and we don’t even think about has a tale to be told. The birth of Helvetica and the reason of its existence have been expressed in the video. Designers long ago were thinking of a neutral typeface that could be used in any applications, in a wide variety of prints and signage. Helvetica is of sans-serif type, and its form and structure is so simple yet shows the clearness of expression.
As an enthusiast of calligraphy, I take time in choosing the appropriate typefaces for different mediums. I often use cursive and oblique styles for hand-lettered cards, but that’s suitable for formal and elegant invitations and the like. Yet if I find a hard time looking for a proper font type that would still look fair, I choose for Arial-types (or now I know it belongs to the sans-serif family like Helvetica). Not elaborate, no embellishment but still straightforward and no biases - fine for labels and tags. For me, the nature of its form would give chance to artists to think of creative ways to put enhancements such as tails, cursive styles and more. It is still left for the artist’s taste anyway.
Vignelli's intro captured me, and I guess he's right when he said that everywhere there is visual disease and the role of a designer is like a medicine doctor - healing this kind of visual disease by design. In the modern world we have right now, if you opt to be noticed by just plain text among the pool of colors, figures, and shapes, you should pick a typeface that will bring out the identity of your figure. It does not need to be so complicated though, since the signage you are making would depend on what lies behind the words you represent it. As what Crouwel expressed, clarity is significant. Having more than one typeface you see one after another day really drives you crazy. The art of designing typefaces really takes time and effort, considering the organization and balance of lines and spaces, not mentioning the style of your letters. From a typeface with a neutral design, one can explore through the variations of figures, spaces, and lines, creating a more clear and legible typography. As what Savan said, the beauty of Helvetica attracts users and designers not just because of its simplicity and neutrality but its impression upon viewers which are the essence of efficiency and fairness, no streak of authority or other striking personality.
There were also morally-opposed to Helvetica for some reasons. I believe that they were the same reasons why I make every effort with lettering typefaces with similar styles just like Helvetica. Although its design exhibits clean and straightforward appearance, most artists especially the inventive types attempt with exploring beyond the plain curves and lines. That is why they tend to let go of the press-type Helvetica print, get away with the orderly and smooth surface and unfold with illustration-type and in abstract ways. Many also say it is boring, typically because it is plainly simple. And that nature of Helvetica typeface is not so impressive to me especially when it comes to creative invitation designs. I guess I only use Helvetica-type fonts when I have no more styles in mind to stamp into signages that are just of label types such as project frontpages or subtitles.
It's good to know how these things were made - ordinary art forms such as a font type which gave way to typefaces that we've all been using everyday - and getting to know its impact to the community. It's mere existence has greatly affected how every design we see in our surroundings are crafted. Typefaces when applied to a creation have something to say. So anyone should choose a typograph that would exactly convey what the signage stands for. Everybody may not notice it but most signages in the streets are rooted in the Helvetica design. That is why most people seem not to admire its design because it seems so overused, boring, and thus not interesting. Yet its art of conformity wraps a blanket of sameness into the craft. Understanding these made me appreciate more of typography (and calligraphy), that plain letters that are merely written or printed express more than what the eyes can see. Typography could have personality - it derives more meaning to the label it stands for.
2 comments:
It fascinates me to know that every typeface has its own history. It fascinates me more to have realized that Helvetica is widely used and it represents modernity and formality.
I agree. It's quite interesting to know the story behind what we commonly see and use. I suppose because of Helvetica other modern typefaces was created. But most labels and signages look like they were created using Helvetica, right? :)
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