Yes, I recognize the irony of the title, having serifs and all.\u00a0 Turns out it turned 50 three years ago, and someone made a movie<\/a> about it.<\/p>\n The worst part of sitting through this film is that I find myself staring at the world’s typefaces, even while I’m driving.\u00a0 “Wow, yes, TOYOTA really is <\/em>in…”\u00a0 screeeeeech!\u00a0 (Full disclosure: so is, “Jeep.”)\u00a0 The prices at King Sooper: yes.\u00a0 The aisle information: no.\u00a0 The Space Shuttle: yes.\u00a0 The London Underground: no.<\/p>\n You have to wade through a certain amount of pretentious twaddle, designers saying things like, “Helvetica is sort of the socialism of fonts, because it’s out there, and people can do whatever they want with it,” which would seem to make it the polar opposite<\/em> of socialism.\u00a0 It would also seem to be the complete opposite of what Helvetica turned into, so the conclusion is correct even if the reasoning is woolly-headed.<\/p>\n In return, you get a real sense of why Helvetica took over the world:<\/p>\n