I’ve always been a huge fan of type, it pretty much comes with the design industry, but I haven’t always been a fan of Helvetica. When I was in school it was almost looked down upon to use Helvetica because it seemed like the safe choice – we are suppose to push the envelope – think out of the box. Once I graduated and began working in the ‘real world’ I soon discovered that Helvetica is much more then a safe font, it a readable font and very elegant at large and small scales. The typeface is so versatile with it’s different weights you can use Helvetica on almost anything. Having said that Helvetica is still not one of my first choices for a san-serif font but I respect it and will definitely see a film about it.

Celebrating its 50th year it seem appropriate that this is the year the film is released. Director Gary Hustwit explains his reasons for making the film:

“Why make a film about a typeface, let alone a feature documentary film about Helvetica? Because it’s all around us. You’ve probably already seen Helvetica several times today. It might have told you which subway platform you needed, or tried to sell you investment services or vacation getaways in the ads in your morning paper. Maybe it gave you the latest headlines on television, or let you know whether to ‘push’ or ‘pull’ to open your office door.”  Read more on the film.

Want good alternatives to Helvetica? Check out Stephen Coles article on Helvetica and Alternatives to Helvetica.