Helvetica going the way of the Dodo?
Celebrating its 50th Anniversary this year, we have to ask the pointed question…has Helvetica jumped the Shark? With an Indie Film to its name, and apparently every billboard in Germany on its resume, and the preferred font for nearly half of all websites, is there anything this old font can’t do?
This Inquirer article, goes into more depth on the history and origin of the font…and the new development of this Indie video produced by Gary Hustwit.
But how can you argue a font with a 50 year staying power? All experienced designers grow to loathe certain fonts, i.e. Papyrus, Comic Sans, Times New Roman etc. But it is tough to argue that Helvetica will suffer a similar demise as these others. When you really look at the font, it is classy, clean, timeless, and to the point. Those 4 adjectives are what all good design should be categorized under. It was created by a Swissman (precision), and to this day still reflects these same attributes.
Is it ever going away? Doubtful (see the new iPhone), as well as the logos for American Airlines, American Apparel, Energizer batteries, Greyhound Lines, Jeep, Lufthansa, Marks & Spencer, Microsoft, Karlsberger, National Car Rental, Panasonic, and Target Corporation to name a few. But no doubt the debate as to the fate of the half-century old Swiss-Made font will continue to rage on, until something better comes along…maybe in another 50 years.
September 28th, 2007
Helvetica isn’t going anywhere, and chances are nothing better will come along.
Why? Because Helvetica is perfect.
It’s simple, legible, crisp, strong, and - as you demonstrated by listing all of the companies that use it in their brand - works for almost anything.
October 1st, 2007
Helvetica is a classic since it been made of a minimum of basic forms to eliminate details that could break the readability of any indication that we create with it. By the way, can someone indicate where i can download the first
podcast available on this site? I been able to download the 2nd podcast up to the 12th but i’m still missing the first one.
October 12th, 2007
The first one had some technical issues, so we had to take it down, Steph. Sorry.