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Home , Font, Helvetica, New York (2019 typeface), Typeface, Type foundry

type positive: the rise of

noah davis he subject in question is everywhere, si- small quantities is suddenly appear- 70s. It changed slightly due to incon- “When it’s used correctly, like in a lot of multaneously orderly and ostentatious ing in large blocks of text. Despite the helvetica sistencies in and other factors. European rail systems, it still retains in its ubiquity. It is in real life and fake passionate, intelligent, well-argued The result, Neue Helvetica, attempted that timeless quality,” Stephanie Murg, worlds, in fiction and nonfiction, mov- thoughts of the anti-Helvetica army, offered a to return the to its de- an art and design writer, says. By lim- ies and television. It appears in books the becomes ever more popular. perfect sign while simultaneously preparing it iting distractions – the serifs, the frills, and on websites. It’s on the streets and It is, simultaneously, a deadly serious for the digital age. the fun – all that remains is the mean- in our houses, unassuming while also sign of branding and a cheeky corpo- mechanism The success of the update and the ing of the words. In a situation where overpowering. A casual observer might rate joke (think: the American Apparel new depends upon whom you ask, meaning trumps aesthetic concerns not notice it, but it out and its om- ). The letters bring with them cer- for conveying but nothing could stop the momentum (getting around the subway nipresence becomes instantly obvi- tain connotations of certain subsets of whatever of Helvetica. The Linotype website cur- , for example), there is no better ous. It is the focus of love and affection, people; Helvetica moved beyond simply rently offers three dozen versions of typeface than Helvetica. along with derision and, occasionally, a font and into the realm of metaphor information the font for $29 each. “[Helvetica] cov- Because of its simplicity, Helvetica hate. (This last emotion is, perhaps, too and symbolism. The trick is to parse out ers a large range of fonts. Some of them also allows other features of the design much, given the subject, but that’s the what the audience believes and why it the ad men aren’t very good and some of them to work upon it. The typeface chang- strength of response it provokes.) does so. If used correctly, Helvetica is wanted aren’t quite what you think when you es with its surroundings. In the right It, however, is not a person, place, or a perfect typeface for the post-modern hear the name Helvetica,” Dolle says. hands, that’s an excellent quality and thing. It is not even a tangible object. It world. But that’s only the beginning of “Not all Helveticas are created equal.” one that increases options infinitely. “If is a typeface. Specifically, our topic is the problems. and lecturer at New York ’s Pratt In- Equal or not, the Helvetica fam- you look at Target and American Ap- the sans wonder Helvetica. (Serifs We can’t grasp the present or the fu- stitute, says. “That works really well in ily continues to be immensely popular. parel’s , both are black, they look are the tails on the end of letters.) The ture without first understanding the a lot of situations.” The country, gaining Which brings us to the present. the same. But you think of those two famous font came out of Europe just past. For a typeface that defined mod- economic power and cultural clout, had There is a reason Helvetica rose to brands separately. What Helvetica is before the 1960s and found its way into ern America, Helvetica is rather old. It a rapidly developing conception of com- such a rarefied space in the typeface doing for them is acting like an emp- the hearts and heads of the world’s best dates to 1957 when Eduard Hoffman, panies, corporations and commercial world: the font does some things excep- ty canvas,” Julia Vakser Zeltser, co- designers. It became the of mo- head of Münchenstein, ’s practices. Branding grew increasingly tionally well. It conveys information founder of Hyperakt, says. “It’s getting dernity, of corporations, of progress, of Haas Foundry, tasked Max Mied- important. (See: Draper, Don.) in a no-frills manner, which is essen- dressed up and sponges up all the char- , and all the elements – both inger with creating a new, clean font Helvetica offered a perfect mecha- tial for some types of communication. acter of the brand. In that respect, it’s good and bad – that came along with that would convey letters and words nism for conveying whatever informa- those aspects of life in the late 20th cen- without the pomp and circumstance tion the ad men wanted. Among others, tury. Helvetica gained legions of follow- of many popular at the time. designer championed ers, which prompted a backlash, which, Hoffman wanted something with less the font at the famed Unimark stu- in turn, was met with renewed fer- clutter, something that would stand dio, using it for the American Airlines vour in support of the serious, almost out on signage. Miedinger delivered, logo, the New York Subway system, clinical typeface. using a 1896 font, Akzidenz-Grotesk, and many other brands. Jeep, JC Penny, Today, the debate surrounding Hel- as a basis for what would become his and , to name just a few vetica rages on design blogs, in books, most famous work. Neue Haas Grotesk, more, tied their corporate identities to a and on forums around the world. The his resulting sans serif masterpiece, font. Helvetica became the face of the only consensus about it is that there was elegant and effective. Soon after, American capitalism as it took over the is none. A popular 2007 documentary the Haas parent company, Linotype, country and the wider world. timed for the 50th anniversary – yes, a changed the name as it prepared to As Helvetica spread, one font became documentary about a font (and a good debut its creation in the US. Helvetia, many. The parent company expanded one at that) – brought these arguments for ‘Switzerland,’ was the ini- its offerings to capitalise on the popu- to the wider world, as has the public’s tial choice, but that became Helvetica, larity. (Capitalism at work!) Helvetica increased interest in design culture. which means Swiss. The stage for the begat Helvetica Compressed, Helvetica The growing importance of websites, invasion of America was set. Textbook, Helvetica Inserat, Helvetica which look cleaner and clearer with In the early 1960s, the US was pre- Narrow, Helvetica Condensed, Helveti- sans serif fonts, altered the way we see pared for Helvetica to arrive. “The ca World, and beyond. Linotype updat- and relate to Helvetica. Something that beauty of Helvetica is that it’s a really ed the original version in 1983. The font, previously showed up almost solely in neutral font,” Thomas Dolle, a designer you see, was not static in the 60s and

88 helvetica helvetica 89 very clean and elegant and very sterile. it’s the khakis. It could assume anything it wants to.” Miedinger designed the typeface to It’s the Levis be flexible. Ironically, however, because of Helvetica’s success, it brings conno- jeans. It’s tations and baggage in today’s world. the font that The font is no longer meaningless. Far from it, in fact. always works, Perhaps the best way for a non-de- signer to understand Helvetica’s place but it’s not in contemporary society is through always the metaphor. Spend any time reading de- sign blogs and you’ll find plenty. It’s the best choice Swiss army knife of fonts or the all-pur- pose woodshop tool. Helvetica is a pair of well-loved, well-worn pants, the ones you wear out from overuse. syndrome. It is a lazy choice for a “It’s the khakis. It’s the Levi’s jeans. designer. People indiscriminately use it It’s the font that always works, but without looking at it, without knowing it’s not always the best choice. A pair the history behind it, and without un- of jeans can be simple and great, but derstanding the alternatives.” there are certain situations where you The Little Black Dress of typefaces wouldn’t wear a pair of jeans. Or you’d is vital to have in a designer’s arsenal, wear a pair of jeans and you’d dress it up but there’s so much more. “The truth is with other things. Same with Helvetica. I never wear my black dress. It’s there. Maybe you want to use Helvetica, but It’s available. It will look okay, but it’s there are certain things you want to do not exciting any more,” Vakser Zeltser. to it to make it more special,” Dolle says. “There are some many other similar More than anything, though, Hel- black dress typefaces in that fam- vetica is the little black dress (LBD): “It’s ily that are a little different. They are a kind of like a cute LBD in your closest black dress with one red button.” that’s always hanging. It’s ready to look In recent years, gained classy and good,” Vakser Zeltser says. traction as the LBD with just the right Helvetica: ever trustworthy, ever sim- amount of flair. The font, originally de- ple. Slip it on and go out. The action re- signed by the famed team quires little thought and less effort. And of Hoefler and Frere-Jones for GQ, is that’s exactly the problem. Too often, Helvetica for the computer age. It uses it’s the default font, the typeface used the vertical geography of New York for without thinking. inspiration, mixing in a little forward- “You have to be sure that there’s a thinking Americana. good reason to use it, because it’s load- Gotham is, according to its creators, ed. You have to be conscious of it,” Ag- “hard-working typeface for the ages.” nieszka Gasparska, founder of Kiss Me Gasparska describes it as “an amaz- I’m Polish, says. ingly beautiful typeface that’s slightly Bruno Maag, founder of the font sunnier and warmer, and removes foundry Dalton Maag and one of Hel- some of the holes that Helvetica leaves.” vetica’s most vocal critics, goes a step It’s also everywhere. Coca-Cola, further: “It’s a little bit of the Comic Barack Obama’s 2008 presidential

90 helvetica helvetica 91 that possible 10 years ago? Or what about the success of Gary Hus- twit’s documentary Helvetica? The result is a public typeface aware. The second factor in the changing uses of Helvetica is the rise of the digital age. Previously, the font’s place in soci- ety involved mostly signage and logos, but sans serif typefaces are superior on screens, especially small ones like the designer after designer claiming it’s ones on a smartphone. (Fun fact: Apple progressively becoming overused switched from Helvetica to Helvetica and over-employed. Maag, the type Neue with the iPhone 4.) Serifs can look of person who spends five minutes cluttered when you are scrolling. As a articulately deconstructing the look result, website designers increasingly every time of the ‘a’ over the phone, says he use Helvetica for large blocks of text. prefers Paladin. “The typeface works very well in mo- you type And yet, Gotham continues to gain tion. When you are scrolling on your steam. That’s the way it is with fonts, using a font in place of Helvetica for the of design, specifically typefaces, in iPad, it looks much better than some- something in a self-perpetuating cycle. The general sake of avoiding using Helvetica. That’s the general culture. Every time you thing more ornate. When you get more Word public grows comfortable with a type- no good, either. type a document in involved, things don’t work as well. The face, so risk-adverse brands – which, “ is a [red haired] stepchild of or an to a friend, you make motion element works in favour of sans you make a let’s face it, includes nearly every com- Helvetica. There are a lot of fonts that a decision about the font. Even the serif fonts, including Helvetica,” Murg pany – choose to with the tried and of look like Helvetica, but they are absence of a choice, the decision to says. Some of Gotham’s recent promi- decision about true. Designers, after all, are beholden the cheap imitation versions. If you’re use the default pre-programmed nence is no doubt linked to the rise of to their clients. They can try to steer ac- going to use a font, you might as well font, says something. We are more sans serif fonts on the Internet. the font count executives away from Gotham, use Helvetica,” Dolle says. aware of typefaces than ever before. There will always be a place for campaign, Nike+ and Tom Ford are Helvetica, or another font, but the ulti- The most famous 50-year-old font “Fonts have become a new universal Helvetica. It’s too good, too clean and just a few of the major brands at- mate decision comes from the firm sup- isn’t going anywhere, but two fac- vocabulary,” Murg says. She’s right. too perfect for too many situations. tempting to bend Gotham to their plying the cash for the project. tors are changing the way the world Just think, you’re reading a feature It’s not the be all, end all typeface, but own purposes. The backlash to the And, of course, there’s the danger of uses and reacts to Helvetica. The about a typeface in a general interest that was never the intention when a ‘new Helvetica’ is bubbling up, with going too far in the other direction, of first one is the growing awareness magazine. Would you have thought man from Switzerland sat down to

92 helvetica design something that would compete the world’s most famous font. I tried with Akzidenz-Grotesk. Miedinger Gotham, but it didn’t feel right so I took succeeded beyond his wildest imagi- Maag’s advice and went with Paladin. helvetica is nation, creating a typeface that would While it was better for a while, it even- not always the come to help define the good, the bad tually felt too airy. I wanted something and the ugly of the modern era. For denser, a font that encouraged me to fo- wrong choice. better or worse, Helvetica is – and cus and type quickly. The decision was will remain – everywhere. “There’s a obvious. I returned to Helvetica. We Sometimes particular minimalist aesthetic that have choices. It’s important to think it is the best the typeface evokes. As long as that is about going beyond the default option. around, we’re going to need Helveti- But that’s not to say Helvetica is always pick. But only ca,” Gasparska says. wrong. Sometimes it’s the best pick. But But Helvetica is not for every situa- only after we understand why. after we un- tion. There needs to be a thought pro- cess. Halfway through writing this Noah Davis is a freelance writer based in New derstand why story, I decided to switch away from York who writes about culture and technology.

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