What in Font’s name….
The EU Says Noooooo
The EU are legislating against the use of certain weights of the renowned and much loved font Helvetica
Citing that light and ultra-light weights of the font can appear un-readable in certain circumstances, they have set out a new directive that states that all public places must refrain from using Helvetica 25-35-45 (and associated faces) in anything that is deemed ‘public-facing’.
Its so prominent that you probably don’t even notice it anymore, but Helvetica is one of the predominant typefaces in the world.
So popular in fact a feature length documentary, called (you guessed it) Helvetica was made about it in 2006.
Why make a film about a typeface, let alone a feature documentary film about Helvetica? Because it’s all around us. You’ve probably already seen Helvetica several times today. It might have told you which subway platform you needed, or tried to sell you investment services or vacation getaways in the ads in your morning paper … How did a typeface drawn by a little-known Swiss designer in 1957 become one of the most popular ways for us to communicate our words fifty years later?
So there you go….. Expect a lot of big name re branding and graphic design work for the next few months, perhaps its part of the G20 Stimulus package?
More info on that here
I already watched the movie – it was very interesting! And yes, it’s amazing where Helvetica is being used. It’s all around us!
Hey Phil!
You made it to the blog, cool!
Yep, its EVERYWHERE!
Did you check the last link too??
hey Elf,
I love Helvetica and use it all the time – in fact I change everything my boss sends me into it before I read it…she’s a Times New Roman fan and to be honest, that just offends me….
It’s hard being an aesthete, he he.
Hey Travelling!!
Thanks for stopping by.
Yeah its the GF’s FAVE font of all time, and I knew it was an April Fools she’d fall for.
And bingo, she fell like a deck of cards!