Draft of plan for principles of typography

Question:

• Why has modernist typography, specifically the Helvetica typeface, come to dominate commercial branding?

Aims:

• Explore the modernist typographic movement in the 1950s and the motives behind it, looking at what modernists were moving away from, and what they wanted to achieve. Design as a democratising force. Helvetica as the greatest success of Swiss Typography.
• Highlight the huge amounts of companies that now use Helvetica, and the reasoning behind their choices.
• Examine the positives and negatives that arise from the use of Helvetica by the multitude of corporations, as well as whether a specific type of company is more likely to use it.
• Suggest alternatives, what are companies moving towards if they are moving away from modernist typefaces?

Introduction:

• Introduce concept of typefaces having a tone of voice that can colour the words they display.
• Introduce modernist belief in typeface neutrality – that the type face should not express anything in and of itself, rather the meaning should be taken from the textual content.

Body:

• Overview of modernism – grid system, minimalism, neutrality, legibility.
• Ubiquitous nature of Helvetica and its rise through the last 50 years.
  • “Clean” “crisp” “neutral” “rational” “modern” typeface good for government usage that only want to convey those aspects (possibly?), but does the same apply to corporate and commercial brands? Do fashion brands that use it have nothing else to convey through the connotations of their typeface? Is it use limited to lower-end commercial products that may have less to convey?
  • Does the use of Helvetica allow companies to actually communicate anything to their consumers?
    • “Don’t confuse legibility with communication. Just because something’s legible, doesn’t mean it communicates. And more importantly doesn’t mean it communicates the right thing.” David Carson, in Helvetica.
  • How much of the connotations of Helvetica do the companies that use it actually embody?
• Briefly cover post-modernism – look for examples of post-modernist branding.
• Standardisation and globalisation of Helvetica – good or bad?
  • More/less chance for artistic expression?
  • How to differentiate between companies when they all look the same?
    • Are the individual twists that can be applied to Helvetica enough to personalise it?
  • What does it mean for the consumer?
• Law of diminishing returns – the more it is used, the more predictable and dull it becomes.
• What are the alternatives?
  • What have companies that previously used Helvetica moved onto?
    • Toyota
    • American Airlines
    • Gap

Conclusion:

• Now that Helvetica is so ubiquitous, does it even say anything anymore?
• Are the qualities associated with Helvetica still ones commercial enterprises want to identify with, 50+ years down the line in a world with vastly different societal context and cultural concerns?
• What is the next step? Where will the pendulum swing next?
  • Current climate of visual communication becoming more accepted and understood, visual communication as an expression of self. Tools becoming more sophisticated.

Bibliography:

Fish, C. 2016. A short history of typography. [Online]. [Accessed 25 February 2016]. Available from: http://www.dhub.org/a-short-history-of-typography/

Garfield, S. 2011.  Just My Type. New York: Gotham.

Glaser, J. and Knight, C. 2012. When Typography Speaks Louder Than Words. 13 April. Smashing Magazine. [Online]. [Accessed 25 February 2016]. Available from: https://www.smashingmagazine.com/2012/04/when-typography-speaks-louder-than-words/

Helvetica. 2007. [Film]. Gary Hustwit. dir. USA: Swiss Dots

Rose, S. 2014. Helvetica: One font to rule them all. The Guardian. [Online]. 4 March. [Accessed 25 February 2016]. Available from: http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2014/mar/04/helvetica-one-font-to-rule-them-all

Savan, L. 1994. The Sponsored Life: Ads, TV, and American Culture. Philadelphia: Temple University Press.

Warde, B. 1955. The Crystal Goblet, or Printing Should Be Invisible. [Online]. [Accessed 25 February 2016]. Available from: http://gmunch.home.pipeline.com/typo-L/misc/ward.htm

Categorised in: Typography

This post was written by Sami