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Helvetica, is a feature-length independent film about typography, graphic design and global visual culture. It looks at the proliferation of one typeface (which is celebrating its 50th birthday this year) as part of a larger conversation about the way type affects our lives. “Helvetica” will be screened at film festivals, art house cinemas, museums, art schools, and design conferences worldwide throughout the year, with a DVD release in fall 2007.

LOCATION
Aurora Theatre
800 Aurora Street, Houston, TX 77009
Phone: 713.868.2101
*Please park at 6608 N. Main St.
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TIME
Social: 6:00 – 7:00 pm
Film Screening: 7:00 – 8:30 pm

CLICK HERE TO BUY TICKETS ONLINE
ADMISSION
AIGA Members: $10
Non-Members: $20
AIGA Student Members: $5
Student Non-members: $10

About Helvetica: A Documentary Film by Gary Hustwit

Helvetica, a feature-length documentary about typography, graphic design, and global visual culture directed by Gary Hustwit, had its World Premiere at the South By Southwest Film Festival in Austin, Texas, on March 13th, 2007. The film is part of the festival’s “Emerging Visions” program for first-time feature directors.

“Helvetica” looks at the proliferation of one typeface (which celebrates its 50th birthday this year) 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 discussions with renowned designers about their work, the creative process, and the choices and aesthetics behind their use of type. “Helvetica” invites us to take a second look at the thousands of words we see every day. The film also serves as a long-overdue profile of some of the greatest graphic designers and type designers work­ing today. Participants in the film include Massimo Vignelli, Matthew Carter, Erik Spiekermann, Wim Crouwel, Her­mann Zapf, Neville Brody, David Carson, Stefan Sagmeister, Michael Bierut, Paula Scher, Jonathan Hoefler, Tobias Frere-Jones, Experimental Jetset, Michael C. Place, Norm, Alfred Hoffmann, Mike Parker, Bruno Steinert, Otmar Hoefer, Leslie Savan, Rick Poynor, Lars MŸller, and more.

Why make a film about a font? “Every day we see words on signs, advertisements, emails,” said Hustwit, “but we rarely stop to think about the typefaces in which those words are presented, the fact that people actually designed them, or how those typefaces affect the way we process the information they’re delivering. I chose Helvetica be­cause it’s the most ubiquitous typeface in our lives, and Helvetica’s ‘career’ also made it a great structure to look at the last fifty years of graphic design. The advancements in computer technology have now made usall graphic designers in a sense.”

“I also think it’s interesting how versatile Helvetica is, how it can be used for the titles of a film like ‘Little Miss Sunshine’ but also for ‘Seven.’ It’s the logo of a company like Fendi but also JC Penney’s. It’s spray painted on the gutters in major cities, but it’s also on the side of the space shuttle. Brian Eno had a great quote about ambient music, that it is ‘as ignorable as it is interesting.’ And I think that Helvetica is a lot like that, it’s all around us and we take it for granted, but once you start looking at it, you realize how much a part of our lives it actually is.”

“Helvetica” is a production of Swiss Dots, in association with Veer. Key crew on the film include director of pho­tography Luke Geissbuhler, who was also DP on Sasha Baron Cohen’s “Borat” film, and editor Shelby Siegel, who has worked on HBO’s “The Wire” and edited the feature “Forgiven,” which premiered at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival. “Helvetica” was shot in high-definition digital video on location in the United States, England, the Nether­lands, Germany, Switzerland, France and Belgium during the summer of 2006.

Links:
Filmmaker Blog: www.helveticafilm.com/blog
Director’s Statement: www.helveticafilm.com/director.html
Video Clips: www.helveticafilm.com/clips.html

For More Information
For additional event information, contact Purvi Baron at events@houston.aiga.org or RobinTooms at president@houston.aiga.org.