Font information
| designer | Max Miedinger |
| year | 1957 |
| publisher | Linotype |
|
Basic Commercial Concourse Frutiger Helvetica Neue Myriad |
Notes
Criticizing Helvetica is one of the favorite pastimes of typographers: it’s bland; it’s overused; it’s inapt for most projects. All true statements, but they sort of miss the point. It’s like criticizing Star Wars because the visual effects are unrealistic. Or because the dialogue is wooden. Or because the plot is pinched from The Hidden Fortress. So what? It’s still Star Wars. And like Star Wars, Helvetica will be with us for the foreseeable future.
Should you use Helvetica? Look, I like Helvetica. But the world has already endured millions of Helvetica-related typographic disasters. At this point, using it effectively is like navigating a black-diamond ski slope. It’s difficult and dangerous. And not recommended if it’s your first time at the top of Mt. Typography. Though it’s still better than Arial, which is like flinging yourself off a snowy cliff.
(For the record, I only made it halfway through the documentary Helvetica. I guess I didn’t buy into the protagonist’s struggle.)
Typography is like architecture– it can feel dated. Architecture from the fifties may still be in our visual vocabulary– steel and glass, concrete slabs, modernist ideals, even art deco overtones. Same with Helvetica. It is however feeling dated– usable but dated. The history of such an influential font is fascinating– I loved the documentary.
Arial is an updated version of Helvetica, in my estimation. I prefer Helvetica because it is attractive, especially when broken out in individual letter or number forms.