Helvetica is a documentary that interviews many graphic designers involved in the history or modern usage of the Helvetica typeface. The initial interviews discuss the original creator Eduard Hoffmann, and his goals for creating a clean, legible type relating to the ideals of the
Modernist movement. Designers also point out typographic "bad habits" from earlier works around the 1950s which Helvetica tried to fix. For example, illegible hand-made lettering and cramped cursive. Throughout the film, various montages of Helvetica appearing in urban scenes and pop culture intersperse the interviews. Later, other interviewers point out criticisms of Helvetica. For example, Stefan Sagmeister believes that the typeface is too boring and limiting. David Carson, author of
The End of Print: The Grafik Design of David Carson (1995), emphasizes the difference between legibility and good communication. He states that a hand-drawn font may be intentionally harder to read, to communicate emphasis to the reader. Other designers dislike Helvetica on the grounds of ideology. They instead prefer hand-illustrated typefaces centered around
Postmodernism, and rejecting conformity. Several interviews, including one of Michael Place, reveal a third stance on Helvetica. These designers-interviewees embrace its ubiquity and the challenge of making it "speak in a different way". Another high profile interview features
Massimo Vignelli, who is responsible for the creation of directional signs for the New York City subway system. He too offers a nuanced position on the success and prominence of the typeface. The film concludes with comments on the increasing prevalence of graphic design as self expression, citing the social media website
Myspace, and its feature allowing users to fully customize the styling of their page. ==Interviewees==