Danny van den Dungen of the Experimental Jetset design collective in Amsterdam with the ubiquitous Helvetica
From the New York City subways to the vacation getaway ads in the morning newspaper to the Push and Pull signs on the office door, the Helvetica typeface has made a sans-serif assault on the world since its creation.
How did a typeface drawn by a little-known Swiss designer become one of the most popular ways for us to communicate our words more than 50 years later? And what are the repercussions of that popularity? Has it resulted in the globalization of visual culture? How do we interact with type on a daily basis? And what about the effects of technology on type and graphic design and the ways we consume it? Most of us use computers and digital fonts every day, so are we all graphic designers now, in a sense?
Director Gary Hustwit set out to answer these questions and to look at the past 50 years of graphic design in order to make people who aren’t in the design trade think about the words that surround them and the effect that typefaces have on the way we process those words. At the same time, he created a fluid discussion with renowned designers about their work, the creative process and the choices and aesthetics behind their use of type.
See previews and find out more at pbs.org.
Watch INDEPENDENT LENS Helvetica Tuesday 11:00 p.m. PBS-HD
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