Helvetica

Cast & Crew

Massimo Vignelli

Wim Crouwel

Matthew Carter

Hermann Zapf

Michael Bierut

Leslie Savan

Gary Hustwit
Director

Lee Wilkins
Executive Producer

Gary Hustwit
Producer

Kristian Dunn
Original Music

Luke Geissbuhler
Cinematographer

Shelby Siegel
Film Editor

Show all Cast & Crew

Critic Reviews for Helvetica

Audience Reviews for Helvetica

• Oct 02, 2015

  The documentary is very well put-together. It traces the history and the impact of the world's most ubiquitous typeface. If you are fascinated by design and love to hear different peoples' opinions on why things work and why not, then you will enjoy Helvetica.
  Robert B Super Reviewer
• Feb 02, 2014

  Surprisingly interesting film. If thinking simply about simple things is the key to insight, this is the film for you.
  Christian C Super Reviewer
• Jan 19, 2011

  Typeface designer Jonathan Hoefler, one of the many interviewees for this film, compares Helvetica, the font, in the film's introduction to off-white paint. No one really notices or cares about it. In terms of describing the average person's attitude toward the font, he couldn't have been more right. The film starts out well enough, explaining typography and its nuances. Typography is, indeed, a mildly interesting topic. But that's not what the film is about. The film was simply a random potpourri of interviews with graphic designers and typeface designers who had varying opinions and different cute little metaphors to describe Helvetica. Between these interviews were rather random shots of Helvetica in everyday life. That's fine and all, but listening to a typeface designer talk about his or her feelings toward Helvetica is like listening to a physics professor explain the aerodynamics of a football or listening to a linguist talk about the mouth's creation of various phonemes--it's really not interesting unless it's a subject you actually enjoy. And typeface design is a fairly dry subject. This film might have worked better as a short documentary. It's a very narrow subject around which to create 80 minutes of film, and that becomes clear about halfway through. If you're into typeface or graphic design, you may enjoy this film. But if you're an average individual with average interests and hobbies, this film will eventually lull you to sleep.
  Jay H Super Reviewer
• Jan 10, 2011

  My lukewarm reception of this documentary may be due to the fact that I abhor the eponymous font itself. I'm loath to use sans serifs anyway, but Helvetica really just makes me feel yuck. Perhaps I'm not in this movie's target audience. It seems interesting and well-researched enough for designers in the industry. I do wonder, though, what exactly counts as Helvetica? Any blocky sans serif? Several different examples in the movie look very different from each other.
  Alice S Super Reviewer

Helvetica Quotes

Movie & TV guides