Helvetica in the morning, Bodoni in the evening (—Massimo Vignelli)

The Swiss typeface Helvetica turns 50 this year, and as the source of such debate, spurring a love/hate relationship among designers and the world at large, Swiss Dots in association with Veer have produced a full length independent documentary surrounding one of the influential and used typefaces in the world.

I was fortunate enough to score a seat at the sold-out NY premiere screening that AIGA/NY held at Parsons The New School for Design. On hand for a discussion after the screening were Gary Hustwit, Massimo Vignelli, Jonathan Hoefler, Tobias Frere-Jones, and Jakob Trollbäck.


Parsons The New School for Design, Tischman Auditorium (helveticafilm.com)

While it should come as no surprise how easy it was for Gary Hustwit to gather enough footage to cut together a full length film on one of the world's most controversial typefaces, Pentagram's Michael Bierut was the show stealer with his candid and to-the-point monologue on the typeface. (Sorry, I won't reveal the details, you'll have to check out a screening or the DVD when it is released this summer).


Michael Bierut, New York (film still, helveticafilm.com)

For nondesigners, you may be asking why in the world would anyone create a film on a typeface, fear not, this is not simply another dull design film, but a fully realized discussion of the social and political implications and function of design in our lives. After all, Helvetica is the ubiquitous and pervasive modern sans-serif typeface— you can't roam the streets of any urban city without seeing Helvetica, and it has a funny  way of popping up in even the most unpredictable places.

The panel discussion was fantastic, with Massimo Vignelli not only declaring "Helvetica in the morning, Bodoni at night" in response to a panelist asking what his favorite typeface is, but the most brilliant response was Vignelli's "In the States" when asked what was the worst use of Helvetica he had ever seen!

For more information, please visit www.helveticafilm.com.