Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Beverly Hills Cop


Photo by W T

This Beverly Hills Police Station is close to the Lingual Institute where I take Chinese classes.

Apparently, policemen know their type...

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Just a day at the...


Photo by Helvaddict

I pass by this place almost every other day, yet I never realized that this sign was here. Since I started this blog, I've been spotting Helvetica EVERYWHERE, without even trying. It is simply everywhere.

I love this sign, because it offers the kind of lucidity and directness that Helvetica is known. This is just an "office". But the way that this sign clearly labels this location and the boldness of its letters suggests a straightforward authoritativeness that doesn't impose any overt characteristic of its own.

Sunday, March 22, 2009

The first of many entries...


Photo by Jane Kim

Hi there,
For several years now, my friends and I have been known to be able to "spot" different fonts on the street or in print ads, some very obscure, others very obvious. Helvetica falls into the latter category.

Helvetica has been made into a film, used in hundreds of some of the most well-known corporate brands, and is a mainstay of vernacular typography. It is refined, it is classic, versatile, lucid, and at home in almost any context be it the signage of a family restaurant, or in the packaging of some of the world's largest corporations. This quality is what makes it altogether familiar and yet elevating. Clean, yet rich.

What I've chosen to do with this blog is post photographs of Helvetica used in signage or product I see daily, as to document the overlooked ubiquity of this uniquely timeless, anonymous typeface.

Please send me any sightings of your own as well to helvaddicta@gmail.com.

I'm addicted to Helvetica, only because my fix is easy to find.

Sincerely,
Helvaddict, 03.22.09