OPAL: Great HELVETICA event 2007

These recent weeks are really weeks for typography. We have already known the Helvetica with its popularity all over the world. 2007, Helvetica celebrates its 50^th birthday (March 24^th, 2007) and there was a big event for this. A documentary film was made about Helvetica by Gary Huswit and was premiered on April 6^th, 2007. This film will be screening nearly as 100 events all over the world. If you check this screening schedule , you can see that the tickets on April 11 in MassArt Eventworks, Boston,USA were already sold out (up to this point – when I am writing this entry). New dates and cities will be added every week. This really made me hope for a ticket if they screen the film in Vietnam.

Below I got some pictures on the Helvetica 50^th birthday (March 24, 2007) and a short video clip about the documentary film.

Helvetica50
Museum für Gestaltung Zürich & the Freitag factory
March 24, 2007

The panel discussion "Will This Typeface Last Forever?" Left to right: Erik Spiekermann, Alfred Hoffmann, Lars Müller, David Carson, Manuel Krebs. [Gary Hustwit not pictured... because he's taking the picture...]

The panel audience.

Reception after the panel, with the 12 finalists in the museum's Helvetica50 poster competition.

Poster competition finalists.

Poster entry, detail.

Spiekermann meets the press.

Museum director Christian Brändle introduces the film screening. At capacity with 300 attendees, 200 turned away...

The afterparty at the Freitag factory, hosted by soDA magazine. 700+ in attendance.

Live visuals by a team of artists with overhead projectors.

The big H.

Happy 50th Helvetica!