My Thoughts: Helvetica

            Helvetica is more than a type font, it's a lifestyle. It surrounds us like air, and there's no way to escape. When you think about it, Helvetica isn't hard to miss. It's featured on menus, signs, brochures, buildings, street signs, college campuses, highway exits, and anywhere else imaginable. One of the first artist from the film stated, "Eat crap because it's on the corner." It was a reference to fast food restaurants, but he wanted to stress how often you could see Helvetica being used in everyday life.

The history behind Helvetica is quite interesting as well. Helvetica was born in the year 1957. Since then people have used it in various ways, and they even tried to change its shape and form. There were a few periods where Helvetica seemed abstract, and it became more edgy. During the 90's, artists turned Helvetica into this grunge type font that some people loved while others hated it. Nowadays people use various type fonts to make their work stand out, but Helvetica is definitely recognizable wherever you go.

I decided to watch a few more clips from the film, Helvetica, just to get a refresher. I stumbled across this quote that made me realize how good and relevant this movie is. This first quote is from Massimo Vignelli. "You can say, "I love you," in Helvetica. And you can say it with Helvetica Extra Light if you want to be really fancy. Or you can say it with the Extra Bold if it's really intensive and passionate, you know, and it might work." The way you choose to use Helvetica is up to you. You can say the simplest thing, and Helvetica can completely change the meaning. For that reason alone, Helvetica is one of the most important typefaces we have. People will continue to use Helvetica as long as it's relevant. I can't imagine a future where Helvetica isn't relevant.