All about typografy after 50's

I love documentaries. Subject matter is almost inconsequential; if it's informative and well put-together, chances are I'll eat it up. However, with Helvetica, I bit off more than I could chew. The first 5 or 10 minutes -were- quite informative, but once the importance/prevalence of the Helvetica font had been established, nothing but sleeping gas remained.

It's a movie about a font. Yeah.

Very interesting; accessible, but also not simple.

More a documentary about modernism and typography in general, viewed through the lens of Helvetica, than a documentary specifically about Helvetica the font. If you go in expecting the latter, you're bound to be disappointed.

Beautifully made film.

Although Gary Hustwit made a font about as interesting as anyone could, this is still a pretty boring documentary. It is, after-all, just a font.

Really interesting, I learned things I never would have thought of about the typography world. Think of this doc as a more in depth wikipedia article about the typeface.

The Helvetica type face rules the world and a dozen or so people tell us how they feel about that. A fascinating look at the sociological aspects of graphic design.

Fairly interesting for anyone even remotely interested in typeface, fonts, design, etc. The right tone, the right length.

The typophile's wet dream. It did make me respect the Helvetica typeface more, but not love or worship it like the protagonists do.

I may never enjoy anything to the extent that the individuals in this documentary enjoy type.

While I would not rush out of my way to recommend this to, well, ANYONE that I know, "Helvetica" was as interesting as an 80-minute documentary about an omni-present font could be. The most interesting thing I learned is just how pervasive Helvetica is in our world. After the movie ended, I immediately began noticing it in commercials, on street signs...basically everywhere. It's kind of neat to know that this single font -- which is relatively new -- hides out in plain sight all over the world.

While there is plenty of interesting information being given in this documentary, it does feel about 20 minutes too long. Like most things, design moves in cycles, and things go out of fashion only to come back only to go out. That point could have been made quicker. Still, some interesting ideas on a subject I wouldn't normally think about.

Makes me want to start analyzing all fonts now. Interesting thoughts from all the typographers and designers. Not a movie for everyone. Some will find it boring while others will find it insightful and how we blindly accept cultural usage.