Ever think that a documentary about a font could be interesting? Well, this one is. Helvetica, by Gary Hustwit, is a film about the font created by a little-known Swiss designer in 1957, which has become one of the most popular and ubiquitous methods of communication today. This documentary isn’t for the typical moviegoer who demands explosions, action and drama drenched in superficial emotion. I would say that it’s for the more sophisticated viewer, but that’s just pretentious. Personally, I found it very entertaining and informative and I would argue that seeing this film has made me now, more than ever, interested in all aspects of design and aesthetics. More information and where to watch it after the fold.
Helvetica is 80 minutes long and has a 7.3/10 user score on IMDB as well as a 88% on RottenTomatoes. You can watch more of the trailers here, or you can purchase it on iTunes here for $9.99 (unfortunately, not available for rent, but worth the $10 in my opinion).
Tags: Design, Documentary, Gary Hustwit, Helvetica
August 24, 2008 at 8:32 pm |
great film.
forrealsies.
September 5, 2008 at 7:27 am |
I love fonts so this spoke to me. I actually switched phones because I thought the font (Tahoma) looked better than on my original phone. Just wondering though, Helvetica looks a lot like Arial and in most of the cases presented in the vid I couldn’t tell the diff b/t the 2 fonts…any insights?
Love the blog btw.