May
9
2007
i hate helvetica
Looking at my traffic logs, I noticed that today I’ve gotten a surprising amount of traffic from people searching for the phrase “I hate Helvetica” on Google. They all land on my post from March about the SXSW premiere of the documentary Helvetica, in which I mention that I was given a button that says “I hate Helvetica.” One or two hits in a day using that search string are inconsequential, but I’ve had upwards of 20 today, all from different referrers, which is a tad unusual for my generally low-traffic blog.
And then I came across this story from the BBC today about the typeface’s 50th anniversary:
But not everyone is a Helvetica lover. Type “I hate Helvetica” into Google and there are forums for people who rage at the mindless “corporate chic” of this dominant font. They see it as a vehicle for social conformity through consumerism, shifting product with a great big steam-roller of neutrality.
For the record, I actually like Helvetica — when used well.
(And, now that I’m about to publish this, it occurs to me that in posting this entry, I’m probably increasing the likelihood of people finding my site with that search term.)
(BBC link found via Jeff Croft’s blog.)
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Comments
I actually once worked with a designer (BFA in Graphic Design) who was one of those people. I used to kid her that hell was a place where everyone was given a PC and had to design everything using Times and Helvetica - it was a seminary, so the joke went over really well. :-)
Ha — nice.
Though, if she’s on a PC, she’d actually be condemned to using Arial, the poor man’s Helvetica. So that hell you describe means she has to suffer not just a crappy computer but a bastardized typeface, too.
I like Helvetica too, it’s just over used. I hate Copperplate Gothic…
Ugh … Copperplate Gothic. The thing is, it’s not necessarily a horrible typeface on its own. But years of horrible misuse / overuse have condemned it to Crap Font Hell, and at this point I fear it may be beyond redemption.
i love helvetica! forever and ever!! why are you getting so worked up and getting your panties in a bundle about a font??huh? i mean are you like crazy????? i heart helvetica!
Did you even read the post? :)