Helvetica & Univers

01.22.2009

I recently watched Gary Hustwit's documentary about the typeface Helvetica, a clean sans serif type. Most people at least have heard of Helvetica and some know it so well they claim love. Throughout the documentary ... most of the celebrity graphic and type designers interviewed praised Helvetica in every way imaginable ... it's perfect, it's simple, it's universal, it's this and that. Only a few brave souls dared to say a cross word about the typeface while all the others held a sort of religious respect for it ... almost giving Helvetica divine infallibility.

What surprised me, and now inspires me to write, is that the history of why Helvetica became so popular was skated right over. Yes, it's everywhere we look now ... on signs, ads, brands, all over the web, it's vogue.

The cart shouldn't come before the horse. Helvetica was designed by Max Miedinger in 1957 and It could be argued that the success of Helvetica could be largely based on the marketing money put behind it by Haas’sche Schriftgiesserei, the Swiss Type Foundry that commissioned Miedinger. It's popularity is directly tied to it's availability for both designers and printers in Europe and later universally. Abode really sealed the availability of Helvetica by incorporating it as a postscript typeface in most computers. People like coke because it's heavily marketed and readily available ... not because it's the perfect soda.

Helvetica wasn't chosen by designers but for designers by those selling it as a product. Adrian Frutiger designed the Univers typeface years before Helvetica was released. Univers was released by Deberny & Peignot which had very little ability to financially compete with the Helvetica marketing machine. Frutiger released 21 faces in the year before Miedinger released one version of Helvetica.

The idea that Helvetica is the authentic late 1950's typographic wonder is highly debated. Some love both Univers and Helvetica or choose a side and stand firm. I respect Adrian Frutiger immensely for his ability and contributions to design and typography. I felt the documentary missed the origins of Helvetica's fame and totally ignored the significant Univers vs. Helvetica debate. A few designer friends of mine had never heard of Univers ... sad.

I consider myself an open-minded designer and choose type based on a few fundamental things: 1. What does the project need to communicate? 2. What typefaces do I own or can I afford to purchase for the project? 3. After I've considered A&B - I decide using my instinct. What accomplishes the goal of the project best. I try to avoid typographic habits and consistently consider type as each project dictates.

If I had to pick a side I would, without doubt, pick Univers as the superior typeface. It looks great in body text whereas Helvetica isn't balanced as well. Although, I use Helvetica when I feel it suits the need. The heading of this blog is set in Helvetica while the top nav is all Vectora, another beautiful Frutiger typeface.

If nothing at all, every designer should try Univers and quit running autopilot with Helvetica ... there is a difference.