Since its creation, Helvetica has sustained strong popularity as the most widely recognized European typeface in the world. By dint of its broadly applicable design and concordant adaptability, Helvetica has swept the global market and is used in an astonishingly wide range of applications, from everyday signs on street corners to the typeface of choice of many global corporations. This exhibition showcased works of various periods featuring Helvetica, including numerous products and posters designed by graphic designers from many different countries, including Japan. Also on exhibit was a reproduction of the diary of Eduard Hoffmann, who, along with Max Miedinger, was the original creator of Helvetica; this source of great importance records that creative process in great detail. Other items on display were numerous valued materials rarely seen today, their participation made possible through the cooperation of Linotype, which now owns the rights to Helvetica, and The Kazui Press, one of only a few key players in European letterpress typesetting in Japan. This exhibition introduced both the appeal and track record of Helvetica, a typeface that today, more than a half-century after its birth, attracts ever more interest.
ID
ddd_166
Exhibition Name
Helvetica forever: Story of a Typeface
Period
January 15, 2009–February 27, 2009
Exhibition Type
Simultaneous exhibition at ddd and ggg
Venue
ddd Namba, Osaka
Featured Designers
N/A
Poster Designers
Planning &Supervision
January 28, 2009
Gallery Talk
Namba SS Building- Participants: MALSY Victor、Philipp TEUFEL、helmut SCHMID
Gallery
Photographer: OKUWAKI Koichi