Last night I finally saw the Gary Hustwit film Helvetica as part of the AIGA Iowa's Design Week. (Yes, I'm very behind the times on this one. I promise you Mr. Hustwit, it's not going to take me two years to see Objectified and I guarantee I'll be one of the first to see the mysterious third part of this trilogy.) If you aren't familiar with Helvetica, it "is a feature-length independent film about typography, graphic design and global visual culture. It looks at the proliferation of one typeface (which recently celebrated its 50th birthday in 2007) as part of a larger conversation about the way type affects our lives."

 

 

Above, work by Dean Kaufman (left) and Janno Hahn (right) from the soon-to-be released book, "3-D Typography." Helvetica is a great film with a damn good soundtrack and some terrific interviews with design luminaries like Massimo Vignelli ("There are people that thinks that type should be expressive. They have a different point of view from mine."), David Carson ("Don't confuse legibility with communication. Just because something is legible doesn't mean it communicates and, more importantly, doesn't mean it communicates the right thing.");

 

 

Above, work by Lisa Reinermann (left) and John Beckers (right) from the soon-to-be released book, "3-D Typography." Erik Spiekermann ("It's air, you know. It's just there. There's no choice. You have to breathe, so you have to use Helvetica."); Michael Beirut ("It's The Real Thing. Period. Coke. Period. Any Questions? Of Course Not."); Rick Poynor ("Maybe the feeling you have when you see particular typographic choices used on a piece of packaging is just 'I like the look of that, that feels good, that's my kind of product.' But that's the type casting its secret spell."); and of course, Stefan Sagmeister amongst many others. The film reminded me of all the things in life we generally take for granted that play such a huge role in how we experience the world (architecture, urban planning, typography, fashion etc.). It also reminded me, unfortunately, of how so much of it is usually so bad. But, Helvetica also made me think again of the fact that things don't have to be so aesthetically oppressive and that by simply paying attention to your surroundings and caring about them is the first step toward winning what Vignelli calls in the film, "the fight against the ugliness." Though Vignelli probably wouldn't agree with their tactics (he says that Helvetica is one of the three acceptable fonts in the world) there has been a proliferation of artists and designers lately who have been taking typography in all sorts of new directions including into the third dimension.

 

 

Above, work by Miles Gould / Joe Luxton (left) and Autobahn (right) from the soon-to-be released book, "3-D Typography." True, three dimensional type is nothing new but the way it's being approached today is radically different and is explored in a new book titled "3D Typography" published by Mark Batty Publisher due out in the spring of 2010. The authors, Jeanette Abbink and Emily CM Anderson agreed to share some of the spreads from the upcoming book here. Yes, Massimo Vignelli would not be happy but then again, the creator of Brush Script, Robert E. Smith, probably wasn't overally thrilled with the introduction of Helvetica.

 

 

Above, work by Atelier Pariri.

 

 

Above, work by Bela Borsodi.

 

 

Above, work by Amandine Alessandra.