Helvetica (2007)

Featured Audience Ratings

• Jay H

  
  Typeface designer Jonathan Hoefler, one of the many interviewees for this film, compares Helvetica, the font, in the film's introduction to off-white paint. No one really notices or cares about it. In terms of describing the average person's attitude toward the font, he… More
  Typeface designer Jonathan Hoefler, one of the many interviewees for this film, compares Helvetica, the font, in the film's introduction to off-white paint. No one really notices or cares about it. In terms of describing the average person's attitude toward the font, he couldn't have been more right. The film starts out well enough, explaining typography and its nuances. Typography is, indeed, a mildly interesting topic. But that's not what the film is about. The film was simply a random potpourri of interviews with graphic designers and typeface designers who had varying opinions and different cute little metaphors to describe Helvetica. Between these interviews were rather random shots of Helvetica in everyday life. That's fine and all, but listening to a typeface designer talk about his or her feelings toward Helvetica is like listening to a physics professor explain the aerodynamics of a football or listening to a linguist talk about the mouth's creation of various phonemes--it's really not interesting unless it's a subject you actually enjoy. And typeface design is a fairly dry subject. This film might have worked better as a short documentary. It's a very narrow subject around which to create 80 minutes of film, and that becomes clear about halfway through. If you're into typeface or graphic design, you may enjoy this film. But if you're an average individual with average interests and hobbies, this film will eventually lull you to sleep.

• Alice S

  
  My lukewarm reception of this documentary may be due to the fact that I abhor the eponymous font itself. I'm loath to use sans serifs anyway, but Helvetica really just makes me feel yuck. Perhaps I'm not in this movie's target audience. It seems interesting and… More
  My lukewarm reception of this documentary may be due to the fact that I abhor the eponymous font itself. I'm loath to use sans serifs anyway, but Helvetica really just makes me feel yuck. Perhaps I'm not in this movie's target audience. It seems interesting and well-researched enough for designers in the industry. I do wonder, though, what exactly counts as Helvetica? Any blocky sans serif? Several different examples in the movie look very different from each other.

• Ken S

  
  Interesting documentary, uninterestingly done.

• Walter M

  
  [font=Century Gothic]"Helvetica" is an illuminating documentary about how even the things we take for granted may have a more complex story than we originally imagined. Take the font Helvetica for instance. Did you know Helvetica is from the Latin word for Swiss and that… More
  [font=Century Gothic]"Helvetica" is an illuminating documentary about how even the things we take for granted may have a more complex story than we originally imagined. Take the font Helvetica for instance. Did you know Helvetica is from the Latin word for Swiss and that it is the default font for municipalities and businesses, chosen for its legibility?(This is especially important when used with something as potentially mind-blowing as the New York City subway map.) Where the documentary works best is as a video essay(like a documentary on Antonio Gaudi), but too much time is given over to a dry lecture on the history of modern graphic design. While Helvetica was once nearly universally accepted, later graphic designers got bored and started expermenting for the sake of it which got to the point where fonts were used which were impossible to decipher.(Maybe I would have liked to have read that Brian Ferry article...) Personally, I have always preferred the Century Gothic font, a little funky but still totally readable.[/font]

• Daniel P

  
  Often interesting, sporadically fascinating documentary on the popular font. It's a little too exhaustive for such a niche subject, but it's handsomely filmed and edited and has a quite brilliant music score. <p>Hey, it's a doc on a font; there's not much… More
  Often interesting, sporadically fascinating documentary on the popular font. It's a little too exhaustive for such a niche subject, but it's handsomely filmed and edited and has a quite brilliant music score. <p>Hey, it's a doc on a font; there's not much else I can write.

• Lesley N

  
  One for the inner geek.

• Nate H

  
  Not super revelatory or intensely dramatic, but amazing in the way it exposes something ubiquitous that most people have never noticed before. This movie ensures we'll never think about typefaces the same way again. Makes one wonder what other details relegated to our… More
  Not super revelatory or intensely dramatic, but amazing in the way it exposes something ubiquitous that most people have never noticed before. This movie ensures we'll never think about typefaces the same way again. Makes one wonder what other details relegated to our subconscious brim with connotation and subtext. A brisk and oddly fun watch for anyone with a passing design interest.

• Tobias X

  
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• Sarah P

  
  Surprisngly interesting doc about a font (of all things). I learned more than I ever thought I cared to know about typefaces. I'm sure I would have enjoyed the whole thing had it not started skipping towards the end (thanks Netflix!)

• MJS M

  
  This is a documentary about, of all things, a typeface. Yes this is about the Helvetica font, something I see every day and never even think about. Though Helvetica is the hook, this movie is really about more then that, it is an exploration of graphic design in general,… More
  This is a documentary about, of all things, a typeface. Yes this is about the Helvetica font, something I see every day and never even think about. Though Helvetica is the hook, this movie is really about more then that, it is an exploration of graphic design in general, specifically text and typefaces. I had no idea this is something that could be turned into an 80 minute film, yet I was very interested throughout this film. I do have a few problems with the filmmaking here, namely I wish director Gary Hustwit would show more examples of what these various people are talking about, but otherwise I thought it was a fine piece of work.

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