March 31, 2010

Important topics introduced tonight:

• International Style of Typography
• Otto Neurath
• Pictorial languages
• ISOTYPE Movement
• Rudolph Modley
• Ladislav Sutnar
• Herbert Bayer
• Lester Beal
• Art of construction
• Bayer Zwart
• Paul Rand
• Alexey Brodovitch
• Martin Munkasi
• Age of Information
• Claude Shannon
• School at ULM
• International Style of Typography
• Theo Ballmer
• Max Bill
• Anton Stankowski
• Emil Ruder
• Armin Hoffmann
• Josef Muller Brockman


During tonight's class we saw the movie "Helvetica", a documentary film about typography and graphic design, centered around the typeface. It was directed by Gary Hustwit, and was released in 2007 to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the typeface's introduction in 1957. The documentary was provocative and included interviews with graphic designers and theorists that explain Helvetica's impact on human life and though. Some of the people interviewed seemed too obsessive and eager to explain their feelings about the font. Others though, shared their thought about the font, why they like or don't like it. Neville Brody explained the difference of using a grunge typeface and Helvetica to sell a pair of jeans. He explained that if the ad of the jeans was made with a grunge typeface, then we would expect them to be ripped and in that similar style, but if Helvetica was used then those jeans would be clean and fit. It's versatility is showcased in shots of storefronts, street signs, public transportation systems, governments forms, newspaper vending boxes, etc. Helvetica makes an attempt to understand how typefaces have been applied to contemporary modes of information and how battle lines have been drawn about their usage. Personally I like the font Helvetica, it looks nice with any design and there is a big variety of sizes and thickness'. Whomever you end up siding with, you’re guaranteed to spend the next few days looking for Helvetica everywhere you go.