Responding to Helvetica

So we ordered in a stack of Springfield’s best pizzas, sat down and watched Helvetica for the Marlin Matinee. Here are a few quick thoughts.

One of the best things about Helvetica is that it’s not just about Helvetica or fonts or graphic design. It takes an admittedly wonky premise — an almost embarrassingly loving history of a single typeface — and gradually expands its focus to encompass a good-sized chunk of modern western culture.

Yes, it’s culture mostly seen through the prism of fonts and graphic design, but that’s the point. So much is influenced by design and visual communication. It’s a capitalist world and we are capitalist girls (though one designer makes the point that Helvetica is actually more of a socialist typeface). We are informed, we are persuaded, we are warned, we are personified…all increasingly with a knowing eye toward design.

So the movie lured us in because we’re in this business and we are, some more than others, design nerds; and it gave us all that history and nuance and font-love we were expecting. But it also made some fairly stunning leaps into the impact design has on a consumer society, all the while imparting the incredibly thoughtful, almost monastic sense of craftsmanship involved at the highest levels of design.

Or maybe we’re just that nerdy. Who knows.

Here are more reactions to the film from Marlinites:

Jeff
“Exclamation points and smiley faces. The best typeface movie I have ever seen.”

Sherry
“I’m glad to see the grunge type era wane…some of it just felt like 52-card pickup.”

Michael
“Perfectly kerned. The leading moved me.”

Sam
“Twas beauty killed the beast.”

Kristina
“Das Helvetica ist gut.”

And Brian, Matt and Chris all gravitated to one of the film’s only detractors, Erik Spiekermann, whose most memorable quote goes something like:  “Why is Helvetica so popular? I don‘t know. Why is bad taste ubiquitous?”

One brave man against Helvetica

Also fun: check out the film’s blog here.