Helvetica (the film)

Last Saturday I had a chance to catch the documentary film Helvetica at the IFC theater downtown (NYC). 2007 marks the 50th anniversary of the design of the typeface. Nothing embodies the spirit and ideals of the modernist design aesthetic as fully as Helvetica does and few things are as polarizing. The interviews with designers and typographers in this film captures exactly that, a broad spectrum of opinons and perspectives on modern design.



The film, for those with a design background is really quite entertaining. Erik Spiekermann was wildly amusing, when asked why Helvetica is so popular spouts back "why is bad taste ubiquitous?".