Helvetica: The Eternal Font

Until seeing the film Helvetica, I was completely unaware as to just how frequently the font is used. I must say though, it is a pretty perfect typeface and it makes sense that it can be used in every imaginable form.  It's a bit extraordinary, and the universality it allows in being used on everything from garbage trucks to high end brand logos displays this to the nth degree.

Although the film was split into two sides - the side for simplicity which advocated using clean, legible fonts for all purposes and the side for elaborate fonts that allow text to be used in an expressive manner - I didn't really see there being a case one being right and the other, wrong. 

Personally, I find expressive forms of text interesting and quirky and I thoroughly enjoy them. They add a little extra oomph to a statement or help to display an emotion in a more visual, rather than linguistic, manner. 

Like this movie poster for example: The image of the old man himself would probably make you think the film is just an animated movie about old people. But the text (and, okay fine, maybe the Disney Pixar logo at the top :) ) lets you know the movie should be fun-filled and highly amusing because of the way it is positioned as well as the bloatedness of it that could remind you of a balloon.

But to contrast that, this movie poster has very simple text (I'm no expert but I'm pretty sure the font is Helvetica) and the image is what does the majority of the talking. The bleakness of the sky and the rundown quality of the van, the man alone at the centre of the poster, all these speak of loneliness or isolation. The text isn't colourful or warped or expressive in any way and that adds to the feeling the poster may evoke.

So, yes expressive use of text is great in that it adds a special element to whatever message you may be trying to portray (either visually or linguistically), but simplicity in text can be equally important when getting a message across. At the end of the day, I don't think it's a matter of simple versus elaborate but more a matter of using fonts consciously to express your message in the best way possible.