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“X” Marks The Spot! #6
By Le Vin Chin
It’s one of those things so ubiquitous you only notice it when it’s not there, or not done right … Undoubtedly, if you look around you where you are right now, reading this, you see examples of it … but only the experts and the interested among you will have noticed before … Helvetica, the font, celebrates its 50th anniversary this year, and there’s a whole host of events underway to mark the occasion. Why has this sans-serif typeface, the creation of Max Miedinger and Edouard Hoffmann in the Swiss town of Münchenstein in 1957, spread so widely and so deeply as to be “considered the official typeface of the twentieth century”?
The Museum of Modern Art in New York is running 50 Years of Helvetica from April 6, 2007 to March 31, 2008. Meanwhile, across the pond, London’s Design Museum also ran its own 50 Years of Helvetica, sadly just over. Both exhibitions feature the documentary film Helvetica, by Gary Hustwit which explores the role of the font in contemporary society and was premiered at the Museum für Gestaltung in Zürich, at its own birthday party for the font. (Perhaps the change from the original name “Neue Haas Grotesk” may have played a role ...? Readers of German may find the full story of “How Helvetica came by its name” here …)
More font news. A major revolution is underway in the U.S.A., where highway signs have been slowly but surely converted from the standard Highway Gothic to Clearview. Clearview was created by designers Don Meeker and James Montalbano, and has already been adopted by more than 20 states after gaining the U.S. Federal Highway Administration’s approval in 2004. Check out the New York Times article on this (you need to be registered, but the registration is free), which intriguingly points out the importance of highway fonts on the image and therefore the brand of the modern U.S.A.
"X" Marks the Spot ...
... in Helvetica.
Elsewhere … we’re all doing our best to be environmentally conscious nowadays and here’s a new idea for how you can play your part, while at your desk. Heap Media have created a black-screen version of Google.com, called Blackle.com, with the idea that a black screen uses up less energy than a white screen. With XYMARA.com’s own black-screen design, we can’t help but think it’s a great idea!
What will the future bring? The need to know has been around since the dawn of man. How much can we extrapolate from the past? How intelligent can our predictions be for the future? At best, statistical probabilities can give us some insight, but the intelligence lies in how you apply them. Three upcoming conferences look at the macro- and mega-trends in our world and try to give us answers: The Future Laboratory conducts its Autumn Trend Briefing Day 2007 on September 26 in London, while Future Trends takes place November 11-14 in Miami and TrendForum has its German-speaking 6th Business Symposium for Trend Research, Innovation Management and Trend Marketing in Munich November 27-28 in Munich.
The winners of two design awards were recently unveiled. The INDEX awards honor “Design to improve life” and this year, the top prizes went to a low-cost prosthesis, the Solar Bottle, which disinfects drinking water when exposed to sunlight, the Tongue Sucker, which opens the airways of unconscious people, the all-electric Tesla Roadster and a cheap laptop for developing countries. Meanwhile winners of the 16th Braun Prize were announced last week. The Braun Prize honors young industrial designers and this year went to Donn Koh, for his LeapFrog, a walker which supports the physical development of children with cerebral polio or spina bifida.
Lastly, if you’ve ever wondered what you would look like as a cast member of The Simpsons, then check out Simpsonizeme.com. The results are surprisingly good!
The Simpsons are a trademark of Twentieth Century Fox