The Art Club provided an opportunity to learn about one of the more ubiquitous fonts and why it is so versatile during their screening of the documentary Helvetica by Gary Hustwit. The film explained the unique identifiers for the font, including the drop in the lowercase “a,” and curved leg of capital “R.”
Helvetica can be found on many public signs and informational prints because it is not distracting and does not convey any specific emotions. During the 1950s, many of companies used fancy lettering that was very specifically designed. Today a lot well-known companies have chosen Helvetica because of its basic human feeling. The film featured font-enthusiasts and designers who commented that Helvetica is like air or gravity — it’s everywhere but you don’t realize.
President of the Art Club Frankie Guarini said, “I think that the film displays design and art overall in a much more serious tone. It showed people the amount of craft and care that goes behind font-making — just like any form of engineering.”
Although this type of film was very informative on fonts, those attending were primarily STEM majors. The Art Club will continue to increase the presence of arts around campus through campus wide installations, and a t-shirt tie-dye after spring break.
