12 Comments

Clearly empty, vacuous statements are the order of the day. How infuriating to live in such pathetically immature times, where celebrity status is equated with credibility. It's hard enough coping with the plethora of idiots from the media and music INDUSTRY (to think it's anything other than a corporate behemoth is beyond naive) using their priviledged positions to author “our” alternative (ahem!) politics. And now we have a celebrity typeface...the ubiquitous Helvetica. Who cares!? The ability of a company (in this case Monotype) to aggressively market its poduct should not be a cause of celebration-particuarly in an area such as graphic design, that is so convinced of its own rhetorically generated truth on all matters aesthetic.

There are two redeeming aspects. Firstly, when people (i.e. ego hungry designers) try to suggest there is no difference between art and design-I can simply point them to this coma inducing tosh. The second is the work of Luke Prowse, who's intimate politically inspired piece talks of a world outside the closed envelope of design discourse.
MLA
2007-07-20 17:42:48

and there was me thinking people were just having some fun and being creative? God I'm so naive!
James Stone
2007-07-21 11:28:30

http://www.engagestudio.com/helvetica/ if you're bored (very bored)
James Stone
2007-07-21 11:29:56

I would have to echo the thoughts of MLA that there seems to be a plethora of these kinds of pretty meaningless projects about at the moment with all the usual suspects making contibutions of varying quality. Sadly most efforts feel like they've been knocked out in an afternoon by the studio intern without any real engagement with the brief.

Whilst I often cringe at overtly "political" graphic design, it would be nice to see some slightly more involved, meaningful projects of this nature rather than the half arsed responses to trite, whimsical briefs.
AAA
2007-07-23 12:16:24

graphic designers making graphic design about graphic design for other graphic designers. mmmm.. its the personification of our meagre little industry at 18.06 on a rainy july monday in 2007
Rich
2007-07-23 18:05:55

...or (in defence of the potential of grpahic design) promoters making promotion about promotion for other promoters.
MLA
2007-07-24 14:14:25

What a bunch of Armchair Critics!

I would argue that the very ubiquity of Helvetica is what makes this exhibition important- I think, MLS you are a bit naïve if you think it is merely due to the aggressive marketing tactics deployed by Monotype. That certainly must be a part of it- but it is element of a more complicated story, no?- Either way, the ubiquity, for better or worse, is the very topic of the collection.

What I think is successful about the project is that it is both a survey of history (1957-2007) as well as a survey of today (a collection of studios linked in some way through london, the internet, publications, collectives-). I really doubt the selection was driven by a conspiracy if insiders.. Its both a chronology and a snapshot-

I’d also argue that Michael Gillette’s print is quite a dark piece, (if that is what gets you off,) as is Commonwealth’s engraving of the TwinTower’s Subway destruction- Helvetica MTA signage in a grave-like form. But anyways, darkness is not what is always needed- Variety is the truth of history and even a sans-serif font like Helvetica, can’t escape that.
archi-x
2007-07-25 01:22:18

1963 - Diddle wee boop boop, cutesy colours and styling for a guy that was assassinated trying to stop people getting lynched all the time.
1993 - A photo of a CD liner - the most boring poster ever made?

This exhibition needs to make up its mind whether to be aimed at designers or normal people. Designers will understand and care about industry in-jokes such as heavy use of the font Helvetica, whilst normal people will want serious events from the last 50 years covered in a more meaningful and meditative way.

Suggestions for the next exhibition:
- A graphical retrospective of human atrocities over the last century, united by use of the font Comic-sans
- Workshop where Guantanamo detainees and Iraqi children severely injured by bomb attacks give their views on the latest posters by Build, tDR and Experimental Jetset
Huzzah For Design
2007-07-25 14:51:40

Circa 1957 the Haas’sche Schriftgießerei (Haas type foundry) of Münchenstein, Switzerland initiated the design a new sans-serif typeface. Employing the skills of Max Miedinger, the brief was to create a typeface that could compete with the new interpretations of Akzidenz Grotesk of the 1950's. Having been originally called "Neue Haas Grotesk", Helvetica took its new name from the Latin translation of Switzerland - Confederatio Helvetica - in order to make it easier to market.
Gilles
2007-07-26 01:50:42

ok im bored now
Rich
2007-07-26 10:49:19

"Univers is not exactly my favorite,'' explained Peignot, "it was an excellent treatment of an existing theme, but not really a creation in the true sense of the world; but I knew that it was a good character for the times and that it would be very successful. It was for me a commercial venture. In fact, it is with Univers that French typography regained its position in the international market.''

http://designobserver.com/archives/entry.html?id=38819

Not Helvetica, but revealing in the way it highlights how commercial concerns define and delimit many design decisions. We could assume that there were much more ‘interesting’ designs that could have challenged typographic norms, or possibly methods of production and distribution that got negated as they did not meet the criteria of the commercial sphere. To what extent then does the reliance on marketability influence the design we ourselves engage in? Are we truly the creatives we like to think we are, or are we designing for other agendas?
MLA
2008-11-27 14:53:33

wrong spelling of kraftwerk, it's got an E. They're german. Naughty naughty, it's even on that poster.
bishopdante
2009-07-07 14:09:48

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