After watching Helvetica, I really haven’t noticed much about type that I hadn’t seen before. I tend to be rather observant but there really isn’t just that much to see when it comes to text. There are words and there are many ways in which to write those words, but really, who cares? I mean seriously, who cares what font something is in? Put more accurately, who cares whether or not I know what font something is in? Wouldn’t a piece of writing have the same effect on my interpretation of it regardless of whether or not I know what the font is called? If so, then why should I have noticed anything different about the world after viewing Helvetica? Honestly, the only people who could care about fonts are those making money out the deal (i.e. the owners of Helvetica and perhaps advertising agencies) or those attempting to convey a message in a particular way (i.e. artists and the rest of us “common folk”). Given these categories of people involved with fonts, we all already realize the effects and impact they can have on how we say what we say. Moving forward from here, it follows that we already understand what fonts do precisely because we are so engulfed in their application. Although there are obvious connotations and reactions to be expected from a given font, their overall importance in most cases is minimal. Helvetica itself just happened to become a “typical font” for making most things appear in a uniform fashion.
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