

Helvetica
Typography, Graphic Design and Global Visual Culture
Genres
Overview
Helvetica is a feature-length independent film about typography, graphic design and global visual culture. It looks at the proliferation of one typeface (which will celebrate its 50th birthday in 2007) as part of a larger conversation about the way type affects our lives. The film is an exploration of urban spaces in major cities and the type that inhabits them, and a fluid discussion with renowned designers about their work, the creative process, and the choices and aesthetics behind their use of type.
Details
Budget
$0
Revenue
$0
Runtime
80 min
Release Date
2007-09-12
Status
Released
Original Language
English
Vote Count
167
Vote Average
7.2
Michael Bierut
Himself
Neville Brody
Himself
David Carson
Himself
Manfred Schulz
Himself
Massimo Vignelli
Himself
Rick Poynor
Himself
Wim Crouwel
Himself
Matthew Carter
Himself
Alfred Hoffmann
Himself
Mike Parker
Himself
Otmar Hoefer
Himself
Bruno Steinert
Himself
Hermann Zapf
Himself
Leslie Savan
Herself
Tobias Frere-Jones
Himself
Jonathan Hoefler
Himself
Erik Spiekermann
Himself
Lars Müller
Himself
Paula Scher
Herself
Stefan Sagmeister
Himself
Erwin Brinkers
Himself
Marieke Stolk
Herself
Danny van den Dungen
Himself
Michael C. Place
Himself
Manuel Krebs
Himself
Dimitri Bruni
Himself
6.5
The Codes of Gender
Arguing that advertising not only sells things, but also ideas about the world, media scholar Sut Jhally offers a blistering analysis of commercial culture's inability to let go of reactionary gender representations. Jhally's starting point is the breakthrough work of the late sociologist Erving Goffman, whose 1959 book The Presentation of the Self in Everyday Life prefigured the growing field of performance studies. Jhally applies Goffman's analysis of the body in print advertising to hundreds of print ads today, uncovering an astonishing pattern of regressive and destructive gender codes. By looking beyond advertising as a medium that simply sells products, and beyond analyses of gender that tend to focus on either biology or objectification, The Codes of Gender offers important insights into the social construction of masculinity and femininity, the relationship between gender and power, and the everyday performance of cultural norms.
2010-10-13 | en
6.5
Generation Sputnik
From 1957 —the year in which the Soviets put the Sputnik 1 satellite into orbit— to 1969 —when American astronaut Neil Armstrong walked on the surface of the moon—, the beginnings of the space conquest were depicted in popular culture: cinema, television, comics and literature of the time contain numerous references to an imagined future.
2016-12-01 | de
6.7
Saul Bass: Title Champ
Set to a bebop jazz beat, this documentary brings to life the extraordinary work of graphic designer Saul Bass, whose groundbreaking title sequences for Hitchcock's films transformed the art of movie titles. Through interviews with directors such as Martin Scorsese and Guillermo del Toro, this film reveals why Bass is still considered the medium's greatest artist.
2008-10-07 | en
0.0
Cartier The little red box
For 160 years, the Maison Cartier has inspired awe, desire and covetousness in men and women before its jewellery box, the most recognizable in the world. To paraphrase Jean Cocteau: "Cartier is still a subtle magician "whose able to hang the moon at the tip of a string of sun"".
2017-02-09 | en
7.6
The Corporation
Since the late 18th century American legal decision that the business corporation organizational model is legally a person, it has become a dominant economic, political and social force around the globe. This film takes an in-depth psychological examination of the organization model through various case studies. What the study illustrates is that in the its behaviour, this type of "person" typically acts like a dangerously destructive psychopath without conscience. Furthermore, we see the profound threat this psychopath has for our world and our future, but also how the people with courage, intelligence and determination can do to stop it.
2003-09-10 | en
10.0
Pitch People
The art of the "pitch" and its role in society, as told by many of the pitch industry's greatest salesmen, including Arnold Morris, Sandy Mason, Lester Morris, Wally Nash and Ed McMahon as well as a look at the Popeil family.
1999-10-22 | en
0.0
James Joyce's 'Ulysses'
From the series "The Modern World: Ten Great Writers", this playful documentary introduces James Joyce's most famous work "Ulysses". It includes fantastic adaptations to film from passages of the novel. It also includes excerpts from a book written by Joyce's friend, the artist Frank Budgen, entitled "James Joyce and the making of Ulysses". Amongst those interviewed is author Anthony Burgess.
1988-01-10 | en
0.0
Franz Kafka's 'The Trial'
BBC documentary about Franz Kafka played by GREEK TV in 1990.This documentary is one of the ten films of "The Modern World: Ten Great Writers (1988)".
1988-10-01 | en
7.0
Graphic Means: A History of Graphic Design Production
Up until just over 30 years ago, when the desktop computer debuted, the whole design production process would have been done primarily by hand, and with the aide of analog machines. The design and print industries used a variety of ways to get type and image onto film, plates, and finally to the printed page. Graphic Means is a journey through this transformative Mad Men-era of pre-digital design production to the advent of the desktop computer. It explores the methods, tools, and evolving social roles that gave rise to the graphic design industry as we know it today.
2017-04-15 | en
7.3
The Atomic Cafe
A disturbing collection of 1940s and 1950s United States government-issued propaganda films designed to reassure Americans that the atomic bomb was not a threat to their safety.
1982-03-17 | en
6.9
Art & Copy
The personal odysseys of some of the most influential advertising visionaries of all time and the stories behind their campaigns.
2009-08-21 | en
7.6
The Light Bulb Conspiracy
Once upon a time... consumer goods were built to last. Then, in the 1920’s, a group of businessmen realized that the longer their product lasted, the less money they made, thus Planned Obsolescence was born, and manufacturers have been engineering products to fail ever since. Combining investigative research and rare archive footage with analysis by those working on ways to save both the economy and the environment, this documentary charts the creation of ‘engineering to fail’, its rise to prominence and its recent fall from grace.
2010-11-30 | fr
10.0
Le Corbusier, l'architecte du bonheur
Documentary devoted to the architectural and urban planning designs of Le Corbusier. The architect supports his in-depth reflection on the city and its necessary adaptation to modern life with plans, drawings and images, particularly Paris, whose revolutionary development dreamed of by Le Corbusier is exhibited here. Its first projects will remain at the stage of a model: the modernization plan for the city of Algiers. Some will be created by other architects: Ministry of Education in Rio de Janeiro, UN Palace in New York. From the post-war period in less than 10 years, Le Corbusier created large housing units in Marseille, Nantes, a chapel in Ronchamps, a factory in Saint-Dié, a town in Chandigarh in India. Through diagrams, the architect presents his theory of the "radiant city", the mathematical key modulor of his work as well as his project for reorganizing the countryside, industrial and urban cities into a grouping around a cooperative system.
1957-12-31 | fr
8.0
Étienne Robial, un spécimen de caractère(s)
Documentary on the French graphic and visual artist and designer, editor, artistic director, and teacher who is known for his widely-used fonts.
2023-05-17 | fr
8.2
Greetings From Planet Smurf
The Smurfs were created in 1958 by the Belgian comic author Peyo (Pierre Culliford, 1928-1992) and they are one of Belgium's most recognized exports. From Brussels to Los Angeles, via Dubai, a journey into the tiny world of the famous little blue people, from the story of the creation of the original comic to the account of their huge global commercial exploitation.
2018-06-08 | fr
8.0
Design ist niemals unschuldig
Immersion in a world of contemporary design in search of more virtuous practices. In Helsinki, German designer Julia Lohmann uses seaweed to create dyed garments; in Amsterdam, Marjan van Aubel creates objects powered by organic photovoltaic cells; in London, the Superflux duo develops futuristic installations to alleviate potential food shortages.
2021-04-28 | de
0.0
Behind the Screens, Hollywood Goes Hypercommercial
Hollywood movies are rapidly becoming vehicles for the ulterior marketing and advertising motives of studios and their owners, rather than entertainment in their own right. Behind the Screens explores this trend toward "hypercommercialism" through phenomena such as product placement, tie-ins, merchandising and cross-promotions. It combines multiple examples taken directly from the movies with incisive interviews provided by film scholars, cultural critics, political economists, and an Oscar-nominated screenwriter. Behind the Screens presents an accessible argument designed for school and college-age audiences-- precisely the demographic most prized by both Hollywood studios and advertisers alike. It features examples drawn from movies such as Wayne's World, Forrest Gump, The Lion King, Summer of Sam, and Toy Story.
2000-01-01 | en
7.5
Hanzi
Hanzi is a documentary exploring international design, visual culture, and identity through the lens of modern Chinese typography. The film covers a variety of topics such as how languages shape identity, and what role handwriting plays in the digital age.
2017-05-21 | zh
7.5
The Gutenberg Enigma
A portrait of the inventor of the letterpress, who was a key figure in the history of mankind, but also an enthusiastic inventor, a daring businessman, a tenacious troublemaker: the life of Johannes Gutenberg (circa 1400-68).
2017-09-25 | fr
0.0
The Blue Years
Rubén tries to describe the color blue as "The color of dreams, of art, of the ocean and of the firmament", thereby unleashing half a century of poetry.
2018-11-17 | es