"Helvetica" is one of the most widely used modern typefaces in the world, which is a great success economically.
It is designed by Eduard Hoffmann and Max Miedinger. The name "Helvetica" refers to the Switzerland in Latin. The documentary Helvetica mainly tells the story of the typeface Helvetica, including its designing process, its applied areas and various opinions from different typographic designers in different ages.
Since the 1950s, typographic designers had been looking for an open and smooth typeface after the Second World War. This kind of typeface should be contemporary and legible. Helvetica was then created and it satisfied all these qualities. It was readable, straightforward and clear, which could be managed by the computers easily.In this documentary, the typographic designers who began their careers in the typeface field from 1950s love Helvetica very much. They believe that Helvetica is really clear, whose clarity makes so available that everyone can use it.
It is global and easily accessible, which stands for the socialism instead of the capitalism to some extent. And it is indeed serious because it tells you Dos and Don'ts very clearly in a straightforward way. Moreover, such typeface is neutral without meaning in itself and very simple.
Actually, such properties are the exact reasons why Helvetica has become so popular.However, the typographic designers in their middle ages prone to the individualism. Therefore, they regard Helvetica as a boring one and dissatisfy that so many governments and offices are using Helvetica. What they really care about is being individual and expressing their own personalities. Namely, they want the typefaces to be subjective and expressive.