Helvetica, Director/Producer: Gary Hustwit, 2007 Is it "informational" or "promotional"? support your argument. It is informational.

. It was made to teach the audience about typography, the Helvetica typeface, graphic design, and the differences between modernism and postmodernism. Before you watch the film, you might not be aware of how pervasive Helvetica is, why it works, how it was created and what it is used for - or about the variety of reactions and opinions toward the typeface. The film made me think more about typefaces in the world, how they are used, and how they are designed. The film speaks of Helvetica as a good typeface but I wouldn't describe it as promotional. The filmmaker includes criticisms of Helvetica as well, such as the overuse of the font (and its use by corporations) and conformity associated with that. Who is the primary audience it aimed at? It's aimed at an audience of people who are interested in design, typography, or documentaries in general. What is the relevance of it to specific areas/topics of our course? It is very relevant to last week's topic of typography. There are points about graphic design in general throughout the film and how design choices change the way things are expressed. Also it talks some about specific techniques that we've talked about in class., (for example Wim Crouwell talks about using a grid to create order in the design). According to the lm, how does type affect our lives? Type affects how information is presented; it changes how ideas and messages are expressed. The way a message is expressed (and the typeface used) changes our reaction to that. Typefaces affect us in unconscious ways even though we often don't notice it. All of us are prompted in subliminal ways, and typeface can be a prompt. Some typefaces, like Helvetica, are open to interpretation and can be used in many different ways. Corporations and governments use Helvetica because it makes them seem official and efficient but also accessible and human. Will you use Helvetica for your future graphic projects? (optional) If I do use Helvetica I will want to put some kind of twist on it or use it in an interesting way, like described by some of the designers.