Helvetica

This movie is brilliant. It's a documentary about the creation of the Helvetica font, sure. But it's also: a musing on the history of modern graphic design. A diatribe (by some) about a font seen as style-killingly ubiquitous. A visit to favorite graphic designs of years past. A reflection about what our fonts say about us.

If you are a graphic designer, you'll love it. If you live with a graphic designer, you'll shake your head and say, "Yup" in recognition. If you don't pay any attention to graphic design, you may think about it just a tiny bit more after seeing this movie. And you will definitely come out of it with SOME opinion about the Helvetica font.

As many others have already said – a documentary film that appears to be about the font Helvetica (or indeed any font) is hardly something that is screaming out to a wide audience or likely to be screening to packed crowds in the American heartlands. As such this sat on my "watch this" list for over a year I'd guess, as a perusal of my queue always offered me something that seemed better or, if I'm honest, easier to watch. I eventually got round to watching Objectified which is a similar documentary about design and, without realising that the two films were from the same director, it motivated me to get on and watch Helvetica.

Like Objectified I found that the film did a great job of laying out the topic in a clear and accessible manner. It builds a very effective and engaging discussion on the font in particular but also the wider arena of graphic design and typefaces that are all around us. The structure of the film is the foundation that makes it work – it doesn't jump into the deep end of the topic and it manages to be suitable for the casual viewer (which I am) while also avoiding being patronising to those that work in this sector. This is the groundwork and it is well built on by the selection and use of a very good collection of designers and experts in the field – almost all of whom are passionate, well spoken, interesting and, most importantly, not "up themselves" or self-important in the way that some of those in design or art can be.

These talking heads help the film maintain an open, accessible approach while the visual design and packaging of the film itself keeps everything lively for the eye and the ear as well – never going into the realm of a dry academic approach to the topic. So yes, Helvetica may sound like it is going to be a very niche film and as much fun as a holiday slideshow from a dull uncle but it is actually light, accessible and engaging due to the structure and design of the film and a great selection of contributors.

This is an 80 minute long movie about a font. People talk about the font, the history, the meaning and the significance of helvetica. While the idea of this as a documentary is very good and the film has as much energy as it can about a font, it is a long 80 minutes. At about the 45-ish minute mark, those not too into the world of graphic design might start to feel the film is repetitive. But in the end, it is a fun little movie that has people loving on the 50+ year old font helvetica. If that is your idea of a good time, you'll love this. If you say to yourself, "80 minutes about a typeface?" - this movie may not be for you.

Helvetica is a beautifully created documentary about the Helvetica font. Now you might think this is a dry and boring subject (as I did before I saw the film) but it is in fact a fascinating tale of design and it's implications.

I think this is a film for anyone who wants to know what design is all about. Never mind that it's based on the font it is a statement on design in general too.

The interviewed people are all extremely interesting and succeed in conveying their passions and convictions. The video work is convincing too and shows very well how common and you might say oversaturated the world is with Helvetica.

This Film WILL change how you see writing. It teaches how to look for the font and it's influence in writing and advertising.

Great film, definitely a must watch.

Oliver

I saw this film last night at the Rochester Institute of Technology in the company of hundreds of budding graphic designers, new media specialists, and fans of typography. I found it utterly engaging. It wasn't just a film about a font. It was a clever device used to weave a story around graphic design, the importance of typography in the craft, and the passionate opinions on design in general elicited from this stellar cast of über creative professionals.

I feel that this film has a broad appeal beyond typography aficionados, which is admittedly a small tribe. The passion behind the ideals expressed by the graphic designers is undeniable and infectious.

The film was beautifully put together. The effect of showing the ubiquitous use of this font in cities around the world, with people walking by, buses, taxis, and cars whizzing past, etc. all set to a totally perfect music was wonderful. These vignettes provided transitions between interviews with world renowned designers.

You might have trouble finding a screening of this film but if you see it coming to a theater or film festival near you don't miss it!!