ruminations about architecture and design

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

no picture today--blog post is about type fonts

HELLO: TODAY'S POST WILL FEATURE
THE WORLD FAMOUS HELVETICA FONT.

I watched a documentary on the Helvetica font last night and I can state unequivocally that font designers are crazier than architects. I take little comfort in that but it was quite interesting to learn about the history of something that nearly everyone takes for granted. Although we associate Helvetica with modernism, its creation post dates some of the most significant revolutions in visual modernism like Constructivism, the Bauhaus School, and the International Style. It is also completely different from the pure artwork of the great modern artists like Klee, Pollock, Picasso, and Rothko.

This morning I found myself paying a lot more attention to the fonts on signs and titles. While I am now more aware of the ubiquity of the font, and the aspects that make it unique in comparison to other sans serif fonts (like ARIAL) I am not sure that it is such a big deal.

What I'm interested in observing is whether or not it will retain its dominance in essential signage fifty years from now. I'm willing to put a dollar on it still being important.

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