Helvetica

Image 1: a sample of the uses of Helvetic

As one walks many facades of modern life, the speed of ingenuity, innovation and diversity often render each day a whole new experience. As the saying goes. “There are only two constants in life, Death and taxes”, well there’s also Helvetica.

The unique qualities of the typeface has allowed for Helvetica to bloom and dominate the publication industry. Helvetica is a Grotesque Sans Serif Typeface under the Vox-ATypI classification (Typophile.com) method commonly used in typography, offering “smooth, clean lines, and an unobtrusive geometry” (Rohrer,F .2007) .

Created in 1957, by Swiss designers Max Miedinger and Eduard Hoffmann sought to create a font that would “capture the modernist preference for using clarity and simplicity to suggest greater ideas.”(Perks.M, 2007). Originally named “Neue Haas Grotesk” , the name was subsequently changed due to its lengthy confusing brand to “Helvetica”, the Latin name of Switzerland paying not only homage to the origins of its designers but to invoke the reputation of clean, simple neutrality of which no doubt “its Swissness was part of the appeal.”(Rohrer.F ,2007) The typeface was aimed to compliment the ideas of the text, instead of standing out on itself.

Helvetica has since its conception become one the most popular, ubiquitous and successful typefaces of modernity. Considered the proponent of “a new visual era”(Dollar, S. 2007), Helvetica exploded onto the scene of the 1950s design industry quickly establishing the definition of the successful typeface. Its usage permeated the culture of the Anglophone world so profoundly that almost all facades of society be it corporate, governmental or personal adopted the simple yet effective typeface in order to best facilitate communication between people.

“Helvetica was immediately seized by the corporate sector as a brilliant way to jettison the fusty, fussy visual language of advertising. It also became the language of governmental authority. As such, it's the font used to represent everything from the Internal Revenue Service and the MTA, to Target and American Apparel.”(Dollar, S.2007)

Such was the dominance and significance of Helvetica in society that resonates to this day among corporate logos, government communication and even the undeniable hegemony of the typeface in the digital age. (Dollar,S .2007)

Its appeal has been often accredited to its design as “the typeface is clean-cut and simple, which means that it can be used as a neutral platform in a wide variety of settings” (Perks.M, 2007). However its very same qualities have been criticised by many designers for its “Bland uniformity” (Rohrer.F ,2007), Its critics such as designer Neville Brody have condemned it as  “a vehicle for social conformity through consumerism” (Rohrer.F ,2007). Its flexibility and neutrality that allows it to facilitate a broad array of situation and the conflicting criticisms for being overtly bleak and uninteresting are both thus Helvetica’s biggest flaw and greatest attribute.

However the interpretation of critics and designers of the publication industry, the influence and significance of Helvetica in modern typography, publication design and culture cannot be denied. In its role as one of the dominant typefaces for decades past and surely to come, Helvetica’s hegemony is no doubt a continuing phenomenon that defines modern typographical design.

Reference List

Dollar, Steve. 2007 “The Type Face to End all Typefaces”. The New York Sun.Accessed 3-7-2011. Source: http://www.nysun.com/arts/typeface-to-end-all-typefaces/62493/

Perks, Martyn. 2007 “Tracing the history of Helvetica” Spiked, London. Accessed 3-7-2011.Source: http://www.spiked-online.com/index.php/site/article/4123/

Rohrer, Finlo . 2007 “Helvetica at 50”. The British Broadcasting Company. Accessed 3-7-2011. Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/6638423.stm

typophile.com.(2007).Source: http://typophile.com/node/13514

Image 1 is Taken from runnycustard.files.wordpress.com.Source: http://runnycustard.files.wordpress.com/2009/01/helvetica-font.jpg