Helvetica - meaning beyond just words.

I chose this quote because I think it perfectly explains why Helvetica is such an enigma of a font. Some people say it's perfect, warm and welcoming and others say it's like an army because it has no feeling or emotion. The interesting thing is that they can both be right because, since it such a neutral font, it's almost completely up to variables like kerning, leading, color etc. to define what emotion the font conveys. That's why it's used by such a wide range of people, corporations, and government. Companies almost always use it because it makes them seem neutral, warm, welcoming, reliable and relatable, which is exactly what they need when trying to appeal to wider range of customers. Helvetica can say a lot more than the reader believes; sometimes the font a company uses can completely change your first impression of their style. If Coke cans had Comic Sans on them, or if Nike shoes had their logo in Papyrus, their sales would suffer to the point of struggling as a business.

So what does Helvetica really say? There is no one answer to that. When Helvetica is used, most people probably don't even consciously notice it until it's mentioned, but they definitely think about it subconsciously. It's hard to say what the difference between fonts it, but there's no doubt that the same words in one font say can something completely different in another font. I think Helvetica says cleanliness and professionalism, some people think it says readability and comfort, some think it says conformity and globalization; But I think the fact that people disagree is important for society and the evolution of art. The over reaction to Helvetica and what it stands for is what lead to postmodernism which then lead to post postmodernism.

So the question will remain unanswered as to whether Helvetica says one thing, because it can say many things to different people. That's the beauty of Helvetica - it can convey whatever emotion you want it to convey, and that's why it is still around today as the most widely used font in the world.