Monday, March 21, 2011

in praise of helvetica

I've never liked the font Helvetica. I know, that's almost blasphemous, but I always thought it was just humdrum, so-so, boring, meh... well, you get my drift.

Then a couple years ago I watched the film Helvetica and my mind opened up a bit. Hmmm... yes, it's a ubiquitous font that's perhaps slightly overused but alright, maybe it is okay to use here and there, on occasion.

I've now been converted. I love Helvetica. Really! See, it all started while I was working on a brochure for the Oregon Bach Festival. For the last five years, I've designed all their season collateral, from their main season poster and ticket brochure to full-page magazine ads, postcards, billboards, banners, you name it.

So when it came time to discuss the look and feel of the 2011 season, the client wanted to show that the organization was headed in a new, modern direction, different from the way things had been for the last 40 years. The request came to use the font Helvetica.

My heart sank. Not the dreaded H-word... how could I possibly create something fresh and exciting with such a static font? But I accepted the challenge and I'm glad I did: I have seen the light!

Once I started playing with the various weights combined with color and size, I realized that yes, I could create an entire brochure using Helvetica for just about every bit of copy while still imbuing each page with variety and life.

I am quite proud of this brochure. It conveys a TON of content in an organized, visually pleasing manner with an informational hierarchy that helps the reader find what they're looking for.

So yes, I now love Helvetica. On occasion. For this occasion. And likely many more.

1 comment:

  1. You're right, it's lovely! You did an amazing job Alex, it's stunning!!

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