imagine...: Season 12, Episode 3

12 - 3: Helvetica

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?