Helvetica (2007) on Netflix
NR20071h 20mDocumentary
Graphic designers talk about Helvetica, the typeface introduced in 1957, and the Modernist aims behind it. Between their interviews, montages show the typeface in city scenes and popular culture.
- Netflix3.5/5
- IMDb7.2/108,481 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes88%
Trailer
Plot summary
Helvetica is a documentary about the typeface of the same name. Graphic designers involved in its history and in its modern usage speak about it in interviews. The opening conversations turn to Eduard Hoffmann, who created the typeface in 1957, and to what he wanted from it: a clean, legible letter that answered the ideals of the Modernist movement. The designers also describe the typographic habits of the 1950s that the new type was meant to correct, among them hand-made lettering that was hard to read and cramped cursive. Between the interviews, montages show Helvetica appearing in city scenes and in popular culture.
Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Helvetica (2007)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- One of the film's most prominent interviewees, designer Massimo Vignelli, is the person responsible for creating the directional signage system used throughout the New York City subway.
- Stefan Sagmeister tells the film that the typeface is too boring and limiting, while David Carson, author of The End of Print, emphasizes the difference between legibility and good communication, arguing that a hand-drawn font may be intentionally harder to read in order to communicate emphasis.
- Gary Hustwit's documentary was released in 2007 to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the typeface's introduction in 1957, and is considered the first of the Design Trilogy by the director.
- The limited-edition Blu-ray release, capped at 1,500 copies, included director Gary Hustwit's autograph, with packaging designed by the studio Experimental Jetset, who also appear as interviewees in the film itself.
- Bands and musicians that contributed to the documentary's soundtrack include Four Tet, The Album Leaf, Caribou, Battles, Sam Prekop of The Sea and Cake, and El Ten Eleven.
