Where, Oh Where, Has Helvetica Gone?

Chances are, unless you are a graphic designer or typographer, you may not give much, if any, attention to fonts that appear on signs, product packaging, logos, and everywhere else.

For some reason I've always had a certain fondness for fonts - nothing that requires serious therapy or anything, but enough to make me wonder sometimes if I made the wrong decision when I got my bachelor's degree in anthropology!!

So I was pretty excited last fall when a documentary covering the history and evolution of the Helvetica font (appropriately titled "Helvetica") was available to rent via iTunes.

(I know, I know... Nerd Alert!!)

 

Helvetica

 

Well, Ryan + I watched the little film during our house-hunting trip last fall, and after we got off the plane we kept pointing out the font to each other wherever it appeared... which was pretty much everywhere, because it is generally the standard font used for street signs.  Believe it or not, you see this font countless times each day. 

It also appears in numerous well-known (and probably even more lesser-known) brands, such as the following:

Crate & Barrel

Jeep

Staples

Nestle

Toyota

Post-It

Sears

Target

Microsoft

Skype

Harley Davidson

Kawasaki

Dole

and...

Motorola

(just to name a few!)

I was reminded of the film yesterday when a colleague mentioned he saw it on TV. Unfortunately it appears Helvetica is no longer an option in Microsoft's Office 2007 Suite.

*sniff sniff*

But, lucky me, I'm a "mac girl" and therefore have practically a million fonts at my disposal!

(I decided to go on a "font binge" today, downloading a bunch of fonts I found online... including some absolutely j'adorable handwritten fonts. If you're looking for some nice ones, I'd recommend Font Garden and 1001 Free Fonts - I have found some neat ones there. My all time favorite typographer, though, has got to be Chank Diesel. Dude - you rock.)

So the next time you're at B-Buster, or when you're updating your NetFlix movie list, check out the Helvetica documentary. You'll gain a new respect for typographers and graphic designers everywhere.

:)