19 July - 9 August 1957 - 1981
10 August - 31 August 1982 - 2006

The 50 display, in the Design Museum Cafe, imagines the world from the perspective of Helvetica itself, highlighting events and inspirational things it has seen - and been influenced by - during its lifetime from the lunar moon landing to the first British nudist camp. For the display, 50 leading designers and graphic artists from around the world have joined forces with Blanka and Candy to create a visual diary of 50 separate events from the last half century. The display is a birthday party that pays homage to Helvetica’s massive influence on our visual culture.

2007 sees the fiftieth anniversary of Helvetica. Created in 1957 by Max Miedinger and Eduard Hoffmann at the Haas type foundry in Switzerland, the typeface was originally christened Neue Haas Grotesk. Its name changed to Helvetica in 1960 in an attempt to take the typeface to a wider international audience. Over the years the typeface has been celebrated widely and used in many renowned applications, implanting its own indelible place in design history. From the beautifully implemented

New York Subway signage system by Vignelli to its usage on the lowly generic EXIT sign, the flexibility of the typeface seems to have no boundaries. In its 50 year lifespan Helvetica has deservedly become the the most widely used and respected sans serif typeface on the planet.

2007 even sees the Helvetica phenomenon celebrated on the big screen in Helvetica, a documentary film by Gary Hustwit.

Helvetica Film Screening
Monday 17 September
7.15pm
Tickets £10
Film Screening of Helvetica, by Gary Hustwit, followed by a panel debate to discuss Helvetica the film, and the significance of Helvetica the font.
Panel members to include Gary Hustwit, Mathew Carter, Emily King, Jonathan Barnbrook, Deyan Sudjic.

Long live Helvetica…Happy Birthday!

Contributors: 1957 Spin, 1958 Vince Frost, 1959 Bleed, 1960 Ros Shiers, 1961 The Designers Republic, 1962 Farrow, 1963 Antoine et Manuel, 1964 Ian Wright, 1965 Fabio Ongarato, 1966 Experimental Jetset, 1967 Parra, 1968 Kam Tang, 1969 Build, 1970 Hamish Muir, 1971 Fred Flade, 1972 Ben Drury, 1973 Darren Firth, 1974 James Jarvis, 1975 Rinzen, 1976 Airside, 1977 Niklaus Troxler, 1978 Jonathan Ellery, 1979 Oliver Jeffers, 1980 Glenn Leyburn, 1981 Barber Osgerby, 1982 Alan Kitching, 1983 Conor & David, 1984 Michael Gillette, 1985 NB Studio, 1986 North, 1987 Cartlidge Levene, 1988 Luca Ionescu, 1989 Jenny Mörtsell, 1990 Emmi, 1991 Marc Atlan, 1992 Alexander Gelman, 1993 Hellovon, 1994 Image Now, 1995 Lars Müller, 1996 Kiosk, 1997 Kim Hiorthøy, 1998 Genevieve Gauckler, 1999 Adrian Shaughnessy, 2000 Winkreative, 2001 Commonwealth, 2002 Angry/Aad, 2003 Phunkstudio, 2004 Luke Prowse, 2005 Vaughan Oliver, 2006 Rob Ryan, 2007 Exhibition overview.

Produced by Blanka / Candy in association with Veer.

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