Big stories of the small

“Do not Enter”, “No Parking”, “Caution”. Most of the signage nowadays is expressed in the same typeface. One of which is the typeface ‘Helvetica’. As what I knew from the documentary film of ‘Swiss Dots’ entitled “Helvetica”, this typeface originated in Switzerland. It was born in Haas Type Foundry and this foundry, as well as Helvetica, is owned by Linotype.

I really appreciated the film for it proves that even the smallest thing such as a typeface also had its origination and this film helped Helvetica narrate its story. I definitely agree with the author’s opinion. I think the positive part Helvetica gives to designers is its neutrality. Its neutral uniqueness among other typefaces gives a smooth and free atmosphere on the text. It can be easily read and Helvetica doesn’t cover the meaning of the text. The text remains simple and doesn’t irritate the reader’s eyes and concentration. Behind all of this, I also think Helvetica’s approach is boring for it looks like plain letters with no entertaining approach. Helvetica nowadays is overused because of the satisfaction it gives to designers which is a good thing. But I think the world must move on. More innovations should be applied on Helvetica in order to fit in with the modernization of the society.

I really had fun watching the film for I like documentaries. I was amazed with the way they put all small and big things together to create that kind of film. I am not having fun with letters and writing legibly but after watching this film, I was inspired to make my penmanship more legible and good-looking.  I admire those typographers  now who create different dimensions in every text designs for I find them magnificent upon improving visual communication through letters.