Helvetica – Happy Birthday
Posted by derekbender | Filed under News, Typography
Helvetica, a font that says clean, bland, natural, corporate, boring and amazing all at the same time, is celebrating its 50th birthday this year. I’m a bit of a closet type lover, but I wanted to write a post about this amazing font just the same.
Designed in 1957 by Max Miedinger and Eduard Hoffmann in Muenchenstein, Switzerland, Helvetica quickly became the typeface used by designers and corporations alike and in the process has spawned many copies and quick knockoffs. Arial is the best know copy, popularized first by Microsoft in Windows 3.1. Arial’s use has grown in popularity with very Windows version since and has even eclipsed Helvetica in use. A few of the better Helvetica homages are Neue Helvetica and Coolvetica.
Gap, Hoover, Lufthansa, Panasonic, Royal Bank of Scotland, Tupperware, Crate&Barrel, American Apparel and many more are all brands that use Helvetica in their logos.
Helvetica, a documentary flim by Gary Hustwit, is a feature-length independent film about typography, graphic design and global visual culture. The film covers the history of the typeface as part of a larger discussion about the way type affects our everyday lives. Helvetica is currently screening at film festivals, museums, design conferences, and cinemas worldwide, followed by the DVD release in October. A screening will take place in Orlando, FL on September 21 at Valencia Community College.
If interested in learning more about this great font, check out the BBC story or Mark Simonson’s blog.
Already put on my desktop! Keep...