Helvetica

Helvetica written in Arial. This drives graphic designers and font geeks crazy. No one else cares.

Graphic designers really like Helvetica. For the last 60 years or so, this font has dominated the world of visual communications. If you have an iPhone, you look at it everyday. Even if you don’t, you’re almost guaranteed to see it on everything from nutrition labels to corporate logos. In short, Helvetica is the most overused font in history.

A Sacred Cow

Helvetica is a sacred cow amongst graphic artists. It’s the only font I know of with its own feature-length film. I’m not exactly sure why designers have such a fetish for it, but if I had to guess, I’d say it has to do with the way the font is perfectly balanced. It’s well-designed, no doubt, but the real magic is its unobtrusiveness. Helvetica is bland. It’s the perfect lettering for any designer, simply because it doesn’t stand out. That’s why it’s so popular, and that’s why I don’t particularly care for it.

Helvetica vs. Arial

Apple products, from Macs to iPhones, have come preloaded with Helvetica for years. But Microsoft Windows doesn’t come with it by default; it comes with Arial. Arial is similar enough to Helvetica that the average person can’t tell the difference, but it’s different enough that it stands out as an eyesore to font geeks. Arial has the same basic letter forms, but it’s not quite as balanced or as unobtrusive as Helvetica. And that’s why it drives font geeks crazy.

An Overused Font

Helvetica remains one of the greatest typefaces of all time, though I’d really like to see it used less. It’s overplayed, like a six-month-old pop song on the Top 40. Moreover, graphic designers’ reliance on it hinders innovation in typefaces and encourages lazy, bland design. Don’t get me wrong; Helvetica has its place, but there are a thousand other fonts that I would rather use.