Submitted by Don Citarella, Sep 19, 2007 18:33

I think all designers invariably go through a phase where they discover (or rediscover) Helvetica for it's utilitarian beauty and weight. As a Windows user, I've always had a strong dislike for Arial and their introduction of Calibri for Office 2007 felt like a minor step forward. However, I've grown to appreciate the Helvetica Neue family so much more than the original Helvetica simply because it feels more balanced and aesthetically unified.

As an identity, web and print designer with era//404, I'm both proud and embarrassed to see that a lot of the identity systems that I've designed (or helped design) have gravitated toward Helvetica Neue, Univers and Akzidenz Grotesk purely because of the strength and legibility that they add to a brand.

And while Paula Scher will always be one of my most influential heroes, younger generations of designers won't see Helvetica as a zeitgeist for Vietnam-era propaganda. True, a designer must consider previous applications of typefaces for the emotions they may evoke, but Helvetica's enduring reputation and usage makes it a typeface that can no longer be attributed to one company, product or cause.

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