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The world's most popular typeface celebrates its 50th birthday this year. Millions of people see Helvetica every day - is this just globalisation or is it the ultimate typeface?

The world's most popular typeface celebrates its 50th birthday this year. Millions of people use and read Helvetica every day, on public transport, newspapers, shop fronts and computers. Through interviews with designers and type enthusiasts, the film tells the story of how a typeface drawn by a little-known Swiss designer in 1957 became one of the most popular ways to communicate. Though Helvetica has gone in and out of fashion it has never gone away - is this a symptom of globalisation or simply a reflection that it is the ultimate typeface?

1 hour, 20 minutes

Credit

Role Contributor
Presenter Alan Yentob

Broadcasts

  • Tue 6 Nov 2007 22:35
  • Tue 6 Nov 2007 23:05
  • Tue 6 Nov 2007 23:10