Typeface and Helvetica the Job Essay

Submitted By ruugatti
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Pages: 2
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Helvetica

The job of a designer, as described by one of the typist in the documentary, is the fight against “ugly.” For the supporters of Helvetica, it gives words a modern, but timeless look that is clear and easy to read. For supporters of Helvetica the design is the more important than the actual words. All of the structural and design points: the horizontal cutoffs, the spacing between the letters, the contrasts of the black ink, and the shapes inside the letter give it a firm holding on the letters and words that make it legible and easy to read. Because of these design features, Helvetica has become the default sans-serif typeface.
Helvetic gives the reader open-interpretation of the meaning of the word. The letters don’t have to encompass the characteristics of the word. For this reason, it was adopted by corporations and became part of their identity. It could resemble responsibility, and human characteristics, even if the company itself wasn’t socially responsible in any way. It gave corporations the same clean image that the letters themselves displayed. It came in and replaced all the wacky hand written fonts in animated ads, and gave cooperate images that were much less cluttered and room to any negative associations. Helvetica is a timeless, modern and clear typeface that is among the most easily read.
The same benefits of Helvetica however became its own worst enemy. Because it became the face of corporate identity, people started to associate it with authoritarian, bureaucratic image of socially irresponsible companies. It had become so popular that it had become the default. One designer related it to seeing a McDonalds on the street.
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