Helvetica
Sep 12, 2007 | IMDB 7.2
80 min Watch NowDocumentary
Helvetica is a feature-length independent film about typography, graphic design and global visual culture. It looks at the proliferation of one typeface (which will celebrate its 50th birthday in 2007) as part of a larger conversation about the way type affects our lives. The film is an exploration of urban spaces in major cities and the type that inhabits them, and a fluid discussion with renowned designers about their work, the creative process, and the choices and aesthetics behind their use of type.
MOVIE COMMENTS
SIMILAR MOVIES
The Codes of Gender
Toypunks
Pitch People
Generation Sputnik
Font Men
The Corporation
Saul Bass: Title Champ
James Joyce's 'Ulysses'
Franz Kafka's 'The Trial'
Le Corbusier
Urbanized
The Light Bulb Conspiracy
The Merchants of Cool
The Real Saatchis: Masters of Illusion
Le Corbusier, l'architecte du bonheur
Podium for Cinderella
Greetings From Planet Smurf
Graphic Means: A History of Graphic Design Production
Maija Isola, Master of Colour and Form
The A’dammer - The Man Behind the Cabinet
SIMILAR MOVIES
The Codes of Gender
IMDB 6.5 | Oct , 2010
Arguing that advertising not only sells things, but also ideas about the world, media scholar Sut Jhally offers a blistering analysis of commercial culture's inability to let go of reactionary gender representations. Jhally's starting point is the breakthrough work of the late sociologist Erving Goffman, whose 1959 book The Presentation of the Self in Everyday Life prefigured the growing field of performance studies. Jhally applies Goffman's analysis of the body in print advertising to hundreds of print ads today, uncovering an astonishing pattern of regressive and destructive gender codes. By looking beyond advertising as a medium that simply sells products, and beyond analyses of gender that tend to focus on either biology or objectification, The Codes of Gender offers important insights into the social construction of masculinity and femininity, the relationship between gender and power, and the everyday performance of cultural norms.Toypunks
IMDB 0 | May , 2008
Toypunks is a documentary film series covering the converging world of Japanese toys, fashion and punk rock. Exploring the birth of the designer vinyl explosion from its roots in character culture and punk music, Toypunks takes you in-depth with Japanese fashion icon, Hikaru Iwanaga, creator of the worlds first designer toy. Frank Kozik, Hiddy Kinoshita of Secret Base, Balzac, Three Tides Tattoo and more are interviewed highlighting profound cross-cultural connections between todays top creative talents in toys and fashion.Pitch People
IMDB 10 | Oct , 1999
The art of the "pitch" and its role in society, as told by many of the pitch industry's greatest salesmen, including Arnold Morris, Sandy Mason, Lester Morris, Wally Nash and Ed McMahon as well as a look at the Popeil family.Generation Sputnik
IMDB 6.5 | Dec , 2016
From 1957 —the year in which the Soviets put the Sputnik 1 satellite into orbit— to 1969 —when American astronaut Neil Armstrong walked on the surface of the moon—, the beginnings of the space conquest were depicted in popular culture: cinema, television, comics and literature of the time contain numerous references to an imagined future.Font Men
IMDB 5.7 | Mar , 2014
You've never heard of Jonathan Hoefler or Tobias Frere-Jones but you've seen their work. They run the most successful and respected type design studio in the world, making fonts used by the Wall Street Journal to the President of the United States.The Corporation
IMDB 7.6 | Sep , 2003
Since the late 18th century American legal decision that the business corporation organizational model is legally a person, it has become a dominant economic, political and social force around the globe. This film takes an in-depth psychological examination of the organization model through various case studies. What the study illustrates is that in the its behaviour, this type of "person" typically acts like a dangerously destructive psychopath without conscience. Furthermore, we see the profound threat this psychopath has for our world and our future, but also how the people with courage, intelligence and determination can do to stop it.Saul Bass: Title Champ
IMDB 6.5 | Oct , 2008
Set to a bebop jazz beat, this documentary brings to life the extraordinary work of graphic designer Saul Bass, whose groundbreaking title sequences for Hitchcock's films transformed the art of movie titles. Through interviews with directors such as Martin Scorsese and Guillermo del Toro, this film reveals why Bass is still considered the medium's greatest artist.James Joyce's 'Ulysses'
IMDB 0 | Jan , 1988
From the series "The Modern World: Ten Great Writers", this playful documentary introduces James Joyce's most famous work "Ulysses". It includes fantastic adaptations to film from passages of the novel. It also includes excerpts from a book written by Joyce's friend, the artist Frank Budgen, entitled "James Joyce and the making of Ulysses". Amongst those interviewed is author Anthony Burgess.Franz Kafka's 'The Trial'
IMDB 0 | Oct , 1988
BBC documentary about Franz Kafka played by GREEK TV in 1990. This documentary is one of the ten films of “The Modern World: Ten Great Writers (1988)”.Le Corbusier
IMDB 10 | Jul , 1967
Making a documentary on Le Corbusier is not easy, because he is undoubtedly the architect most familiar to the general public but also the most unknown. If most people know his great achievements, such as the Cité radieuse of Marseille, the pavilions of the Cité universitaire de Paris or the Tourettes convent, many are unaware of his works in Moscow, Rio de Janeiro or Chandigarh. Roy Oppenheim pays a vibrant tribute to Corbusier, dismissing the criticisms and darker facets of the character. It presents the career of this pioneering architect, as well as his thinking, the essential principle of which was aimed at the development of human beings and the balance of society. Light, space and greenery are integrated into his large futuristic cities, because according to him the eyes of the inhabitants should be drawn into the distance and not into their neighbor's bathroom.Urbanized
IMDB 7.4 | Sep , 2011
A documentary about the design of cities, which looks at the issues and strategies behind urban design and features some of the world's foremost architects, planners, policymakers, builders, and thinkers.The Light Bulb Conspiracy
IMDB 7.6 | Nov , 2010
Once upon a time... consumer goods were built to last. Then, in the 1920’s, a group of businessmen realized that the longer their product lasted, the less money they made, thus Planned Obsolescence was born, and manufacturers have been engineering products to fail ever since. Combining investigative research and rare archive footage with analysis by those working on ways to save both the economy and the environment, this documentary charts the creation of ‘engineering to fail’, its rise to prominence and its recent fall from grace.The Merchants of Cool
IMDB 7.2 | Feb , 2001
A documentary on the marketing of pop culture to Teenagers.The Real Saatchis: Masters of Illusion
IMDB 0 | Jul , 1999
Featuring interviews with Sir John Hegarty, Lord Tim Bell and Robert E. Jacoby, The Real Saatchis: Masters of Illusion chronicles the rise and fall of Britain's largest advertising agency,Le Corbusier, l'architecte du bonheur
IMDB 10 | Dec , 1957
Documentary devoted to the architectural and urban planning designs of Le Corbusier. The architect supports his in-depth reflection on the city and its necessary adaptation to modern life with plans, drawings and images, particularly Paris, whose revolutionary development dreamed of by Le Corbusier is exhibited here. Its first projects will remain at the stage of a model: the modernization plan for the city of Algiers. Some will be created by other architects: Ministry of Education in Rio de Janeiro, UN Palace in New York. From the post-war period in less than 10 years, Le Corbusier created large housing units in Marseille, Nantes, a chapel in Ronchamps, a factory in Saint-Dié, a town in Chandigarh in India. Through diagrams, the architect presents his theory of the "radiant city", the mathematical key modulor of his work as well as his project for reorganizing the countryside, industrial and urban cities into a grouping around a cooperative system.Podium for Cinderella
IMDB 0 | Jan , 2009
The heroine of the film, fashion designer Tanya Kotegova, has become an unquestioned authority in the world of fashion, a queen of style with an inimitable energy in every collection. How did a girl from Magadan reach the heights of design art? The fashion show is the most honest account of the inner world, passions, and experiences of a woman who has dedicated herself to her craft and her fashion house.Greetings From Planet Smurf
IMDB 8.2 | Jun , 2018
The Smurfs were created in 1958 by the Belgian comic author Peyo (Pierre Culliford, 1928-1992) and they are one of Belgium's most recognized exports. From Brussels to Los Angeles, via Dubai, a journey into the tiny world of the famous little blue people, from the story of the creation of the original comic to the account of their huge global commercial exploitation.Graphic Means: A History of Graphic Design Production
IMDB 7 | Apr , 2017
Up until just over 30 years ago, when the desktop computer debuted, the whole design production process would have been done primarily by hand, and with the aide of analog machines. The design and print industries used a variety of ways to get type and image onto film, plates, and finally to the printed page. Graphic Means is a journey through this transformative Mad Men-era of pre-digital design production to the advent of the desktop computer. It explores the methods, tools, and evolving social roles that gave rise to the graphic design industry as we know it today.Maija Isola, Master of Colour and Form
IMDB 10 | Sep , 2021
A film about Maija Isola, the designer of Finland’s most beloved fabrics. Her bold designs, which include classics like Unikko, Kivet, Kaivo and Melooni, were essential in creating Marimekko’s lifestyle universe. The film shows the secrets to the success of Maija Isola’s fabrics, the values at the heart of Isola’s globetrotter lifestyle, and the legacy she left us. The film is narrated by Maija Isola, as well as her daughter Kristina Isola. It takes us close to Maija as a person, artist, thinker and visionary through her letters. We also hear Armi Ratia’s thoughts on Isola both as an employee and as a friend.The A’dammer - The Man Behind the Cabinet
IMDB 0 | Aug , 2025
The A’dammer - The Man Behind the Cabinet follows the life of designer Aldo van den Nieuwelaar. He designed the iconic A’dammer cabinet, an international design icon, with over seventy versions sold worldwide. Museums acquired his work, and he became a promising name in the design world. But Aldo was more of an artist than an entrepreneur, and his perfectionism clashed with commercial interests. His tense relationship with director Harm Scheltens of furniture manufacturer Pastoe, in particular, escalated into a years-long legal battle over money, recognition, and control.