Day 22: Helvetica (2007)

Last night I was really not in the mood to watch a film. It was the first time since I started this project that I really didn't want to. Must be some form of film fatigue. Regardless, I walked over to my DVD shelf and looked for something that wouldn't require too much thinking and would hopefully be enjoyable. Lacking any comedies, I remembered I had this documentary. I originally picked it up because my brother, an English major whose into this sorta of thing, wanted to see it. He watched it a while ago, but I had never gotten around to it. I figured a documentary about a typeface couldn't require too much brainpower, and somewhat bashfully, I admit the short run time of 80-minutes also allured to me.

I can just hear people now: "A documentary about a typeface? Why not just watch paint dry?" Granted, save for those few typography enthusiasts, it would seem that Helvetica is a hard sell, but the directors use helvetica as a springboard to discuss fonts, typography, graphic design and global consumerist culture. Helvetica, a typeface designed in 1957, has become the norm of contemporary capitalist consumer culture. Look around and you will see helvetica used everywhere - from warning signs, to instructions, to federal government department headings, and to most company logos. When Macs were first created, helvetica was the default font and Microsoft quickly copied suit. Arial, the almost identical twin of Helvetica, is the default for most Microsoft products now. Helvetica is all around us, there is no escaping it. The film explores this notion, and then interviews various people in the industry who discuss the benefits and the repercussions of this global monopoly of this typeface.

While I enjoyed the documentary, it failed, in my opinion, to properly delve into the issue. My biggest complaint is that for a documentary about Helvetica, it spent almost no time on the technical qualities of the font itself. There is a couple references to the design, but with no visual guides it was next to useless to people who can't visualize the font. There was no comparisons to other fonts, which would have been very useful to highlight why Helevtica has become the global default typeface. In one scene, they go into the archives of the typography firm that owns Helvetica and we see the original markup of the letter A being pulled out of a folder, but that's it. Why couldn't they pull them all out, lay them on a table, and perhaps, crazy as this seems, explain what makes the font so unique. I kept waiting for the technical explanation but it never came and it left me questioning why the would choose to leave out the most obvious aspect of a film on a typeface - you know, actually showing the typeface. Considering the poster demonstrates the typeface as the "cast", you'd think they'd show up for some form of discussion. Don't get me wrong, helvetica makes an appearance - about every 5 minutes. Every 5 minutes or so we're entertained with an artistic montage of helvetica being used all over cities and logos. While this was enjoyable for the first 2, 3 or even 4 times as it clearly demonstrates the popularity of the font, it quickly becomes obvious it is being used as filler to beef up the otherwise somewhat light documentary. While I enjoyed the film, it left me wanting more, and wishing for less filler.