Helvetica: The Movie
By Ron Ellis
It’s not often when there are movies about the graphic arts trade. Helvetica: The Movie, which recently came out, has won scores of awards from independent film festivals, and has attracted attention, Helvetica the typeface is now 50 years old, and Helvetica: The Movie examines the impact that Helvetica has had both on graphic design, as well as our society.

Many of us in the printing industry have a relationship with type. I put myself through college working for typographers, and my first job afterward was at Bitstream. Back then, font libraries were prized and very expensive — not something you could find bundled on a CD for a few dollars.

A very popular typeface
Helvetica was always a very popular typeface. The font was developed by Max Miedinger and Eduard Hoffmann in 1957 for the Haas Type Foundry in Switzerland. Originally the font was called Neue Haas Grotesk, but the name was later changed to Helvetica (the Latin name for Switzerland). The parent companies of Haas, Stempel and Linotype began marketing the font internationally in 1961. The rest is history.

The film starts with the hand setting of type from a job case, the insertion into a chase, and the imaging of type on a proof press. From there, the film quickly moves into a mixture of music and images that show us how ubiquitous Helvetica has become. The movie takes us all over the world, starting in New York City with an interview with Massimo Vignelli, who designed the graphics for the New York Subway system. There are a number of great interviews. Boston native Matthew Carter, the founder of Bitstream, is featured extensively and explains why he likes Helvetica. He shows the original type specimen book for Helvetica and graciously talks about Helvetica and why there are now more good type designers than ever.

The film features interviews with a who’s who of type and design, including Erik Spiekermann, Matthew Carter, Massimo Vignelli, Wim Crouwel, Hermann Zapf, Neville Brody, Stefan Sagmeister, Michael Bierut, David Carson, Paula Scher, Jonathan Hoefler, Tobias Frere-Jones, Experimental Jetset, Michael C. Place, Norm, Alfred Hoffmann, Mike Parker, Bruno Steinert, Otmar Hoefer, Leslie Savan, Rick Poynor, Lars Müller, and many more.

Some of the great moments come as the film moves across the globe. In Switzerland, Albert Hoffmann, son of the inventor shows original workbooks and talks about his father’s task when creating Helvetica. Mike Parker, from Linotype USA talks about the interrelationship of the positive and negative spaces in Helvetica, clearly showing the matrix than makes the font so visually appealing. And Otmar Hoefer takes us deep into the cellars at Linotype HQ archives in Germany, to show us the original letterforms drawings for the font Helvetica. (Helvetica is still owned by Linotype).

One thing the film drives home is how popular the font is. We see it used for brand identities all around us, such as Crate and Barrel, American Airlines, for nearly universal signage, and even in use on numerous IRS forms including our tax returns. The font is direct, simple, smooth – and everywhere. It is impossible not to walk down the street or look at a publication without seeing Helvetica in use.

Of course not everyone loves Helvetica, and the film examines the critics and their complaints. Helvetica was so successfully used by the corporate world and governments that it alienated many designers. By the 70’s Helvetica was viewed as too conformist, and too corporate. Designers began to associate it with the war in Vietnam, with corporate America and towards the late 70’s and 80’s hand lettering became more popular. The clear and simple look of Helvetica lost popularity among creatives.

David Carson, founder of Raygun talks about confusing legibility with communication, and how his design influenced creatives during that time. It is made clear in the film that there are many who are not fans of Helvetica, and while the grunge style of typography is still out there, Helvetica clearly has made a comeback.

Helvetica is used in a staggering amount of places. It is used in signage, design, packaging, and branding. Helvetica is used so often that it almost becomes invisible — that is where some designers write it off, but is still out there — everywhere.

One designer implies that Helvetica has a design program built inside of it — that there is just something there that helps people understand how to place the type, and how to make it look good. Type is now cheap and easy to use — unlike the old days of typography — but it doesn’t automatically make for good design. Type still has a draw.

This month’s Atlantic Monthly has an article about typography, and Bitstream’s Myfonts.com has successfully highlighted independent font designers and helped them get their fonts into the marketplace.

Helvetica: The Movie can be purchased on DVD, as well as rented from Netflix. In addition to containing the movie, the DVD also contains additional interview footage that is almost as interesting as the actual movie. Helvetica has been here for 50 years now, and it still appears crisp, legible, and remains popular. Like it or not, there is something about Helvetica.

About the author: Ron Ellis is a prepress consultant specializing in workflow training and integration. He can be contacted at 603-498-4553 or through his Web site at www.ronellisconsulting.com.