Friday, May 02, 2008   —   Vienna 0 Comments

Helvetica, the 50 year old typeface is the most popular brand font in the world. If you're in doubt, ask yourself what do all these company logos have in common:

Yup, it seems that if you're inclined towards world domination, Helvetica makes for a good signature. It also happens to be one of the most neutral fonts. That perhaps, explains why multinational enterprises have, for a long time, adopted it to carry their brand message across cultures.

Saying it is a "neutral" font is not to suggest that it is empty of meaning, but rather, that is uncluttered in its function. Fonts are design tools after all, so the fact that Helvetica has been popular for most of 50 years, suggests to me that its success lies in what every tool does: it solves the problem. In corporate branding, the that would be to win the customers attention and confidence, and to be identifiable of course. If this can be done without cultural biases, misperceptions, and relying on changing fashion sensibilities, all the better &151 not that any of these things are in themselves bad or always unwanted. The point is that a mainstay tool is one that does the job well and only does the job it was intended to do.

Therein I find a minor epiphany for approach to designing web apps as whacky ideas keep popping into my head: Helvetica's success goes to show that new, flashy, tricked-out won't trump accessible, stable, efficient, and modern (different to "new").