Movies!!!! (I could swear I gave it a heading before)--Helvetica Helvetica Helvetica

[ellen_datlow]

This evening I was able to watch three short movies: GI Jane, directed by Ridley Scott (although you'd never know it) starring Demi Moore and with (the reason I rented it) Viggo M. Viggo was very good and Anne Bancroft was also really good as a Texan congresswoman who was head of the armed forces committee (based on Ann Richardson?). By the numbers but about an important subject--letting the first woman trainee into the SEALS program. Interesting what a difference twelve years can make.

Ice Age made me cry. What can I say? I enjoyed it immensely.

But... the real winner tonight was Helvetica the fascinating documentary about the ubiquitous typeface. It's entertaining and informative, with several type designers discussing the font's genesis in 1958, how it seemingly took over the western world, the backlash against it (there were a few designers who seemed almost unhinged in their reactions to it), and the current state of opinion on it. I found the movie riveting.

Comments

[catsparx.livejournal.com]

I'm very keen to see that Helvetica doco.

[ellen-datlow.livejournal.com]

I think you'll like it.

[catsparx.livejournal.com]

I already like the font a lot!

[ellen-datlow.livejournal.com]

Me too, and I appreciate even more how easy it is to read and how versatile it is after seeing some of the post-modern, um crap dreamed up by those who feel helvetica fascist and bourgeois (simultaneously) :-).

[ellen-datlow.livejournal.com]

I always knew Wired was unreadable for a reason (and assumed, possibly wrongly, that it wasn't the content. I could never get TO the content I was so distracted by its overdesign).

[catsparx.livejournal.com]

Helvetica is the vanilla of the font world. People fob it off as boring, but it goes with everything in a way that other fonts -- and boysenberry ripple -- don't

[ellen-datlow.livejournal.com]

Yes. And I happen to love vanilla -as a taste and in ice cream -so there!

[catsparx.livejournal.com]

ditto. Its my favourite flavour

[ellen-datlow.livejournal.com]

either that or coffee ice cream with chocolate sprinkles on top. Yum!

[catsparx.livejournal.com]

pistachio and english toffee are my next two favourites

[joeicarus.blogspot.com (from livejournal.com)]

All the design people I know are unhinged in their opposition to Comic Sans. I get that it's overused/inappropriately used, but I think it's a perfectly decent typeface for certain informal purposes. But oh! The passion! Seriously, these friends of mine hate Comic Sans with a passion I reserve for, say, Atlas Shrugged.

[catsparx.livejournal.com]

I despise comic sans with a burning passion too. And yeah, I'm a graphic designer.

[ellen-datlow.livejournal.com]

Oh it looks kind of nice--I like the cutesy ones on occasion but not for most stuff. I occasionally play with them for my specific anthology rejection letters :-). I'd play with them here but the system won't even take a cut and paste--jokewood, for example--which is on my "word" toobar--is adorable!

[catsparx.livejournal.com]

NO NO NOOOOO!!! Comic sans = pure evil. BAD BAD FONT.

[ellen-datlow.livejournal.com]

Nah...just checked it out it goes so nicely with jokewood! :-)
I've gotta hit the sack. It's 2am over here.

[catsparx.livejournal.com]

nite nite!

[rosefox]

See userpic.

[joeicarus.blogspot.com (from livejournal.com)]

You see?!?!

[rosefox]

Comic Sans is the dark side of the Force! Banninate! Exterminate!

[catsparx.livejournal.com]

yes, I'm familiar with the ban comic sans site. Oughta get one of their t-shirts I reckon.

[kylecassidy.livejournal.com]

I think the only thing that comes close, well, there are two, the default use of Times Roman, which as far as I can tell just means you didn't care, and the inappropriate use of Papyrus, which means you cared, you just don't know anything about type.

[ellen-datlow.livejournal.com]

I convert all files to Times Roman when working on them. I just looked at Papyrus and it's pretty. When/why would it be inappropriate...

[kylecassidy.livejournal.com]

Papyrus is pretty and that is likely its downfall. If you're a Thai restaurant or a Rakki (sp) healing center, papyrus is probably appropriate for the sign outside of your establishment. Where it causes designers to collapse into weeping puddles is when it's used as body text for lost dog advertisements or Christmas Party invitations. This is because the personal computer gave type design to "the masses" and instead of making everybody into designers, it just make lots of people think they didn't have to hire a designer anymore because they have MS Word and all these fonts.... Whereas you can pretty much get away with using Helvetica anywhere and the worst people will say about you is that you're unimaginative, Papyrus is so frequently used wrong that it's nearly impossible to use right anymore because it comes with the "Oh god! Papyrus!" baggage.

[ellen-datlow.livejournal.com]

I can see it for a party invitation though.

[stephen-dedman.livejournal.com]

Hmm. Maybe we should pass a law saying that Atlas Shrugged can only be printed in Comic Sans... (actually, considering how much I hate that book, I think it would be more readable and make more sense if it were only printed in Wingdings).

[kylecassidy.livejournal.com]

i totally loved Helvetica and since watching it I can't stop seeing it everywhere. It's been everywhere but I'd never noticed how ubiquitous it really was, mostly because it does it's job well, it's authoritative, but not ostentatious. It's a font you obey but don't notice. I also can't stop noticing Ariel trying to be Helvtica everywhere. But now I make a sad clucking noise and shake my head.

[ellen-datlow.livejournal.com]

Yes--that's what the movie does--show you how ubiquitous helvetica is. I often use Ariel in my email.

[kylecassidy.livejournal.com]

Given the choice between Times Roman and Ariel, I think Ariel's probably the better choice. Though you probably have to travel good distances to find a designer who will say bad things about Palatino, which is nearly as common as the other two.

[misplacedmind.livejournal.com]

I think this is my favorite post+comments of yours ever :) Now I'm very eager to see Helvetica, and until this post, I hadn't even heard of it! I have nothing meaningful to contribute here, as I am one of those "masses" referred to by kylecassidy, above (although I never could afford a designer, anyway, so for me to eschew them is entirely theoretical!) However, I have a deep fascination with font, with a particular fondness for Tempus Sans. I find guilty pleasure in Jokerman, although I can almost never find a valid reason to use it.

I was thrilled the first time I read a book that made reference to what font was used.

[ellen-datlow.livejournal.com]

LOL--you're easily amused. :-)

Once you learn even a little about fonts and how they can be used in graphic design (or shouldn't) a whole new world opens up.

[stephen-dedman.livejournal.com]

This is starting to remind me of a comment I once made about _fustian: "Ask him about his plans for the future, and he'll tell you what font they're printed in."