Helvetica, period.
We watched Helvetica today in History of Design. Helvetica may or may not be the typeface of the Establishment. It may or may not be responsible for the Vietnam war. It may or may not be socialist. It is definitely a darn entertaining documentary, even if you're not a type geek.
Erik Spiekermann is one of my new favorite people. (The interview begins around the two minute mark, and really you should just go watch the movie.)
More Erik Spiekermann being awesome.
I watched this fellow on u-tube and enjoyed his enthusiasm -- reminded me of my college days when I studied calligraphy and had real favorites for practicing my letters. Making the letters by hand, with only pen and good ink, was exciting and a window into our history that I had not expected.
ReplyDeleteI love enthusiasm, although I have to respectfully disagree with Herr Spiekermann about the best letters. I feel that the lower case "g" is both pleasingly various and unbearably expressive -- although I do see his point about the importance of the "a" in type design.
ReplyDelete“I see now that keen interest can illuminate anything, and that anything, moreover, has something worth illuminating in it, and that without that interest gates carved by Benvenuto Cellini from two diamonds would merely look chilly.” -- Lord Dunsany