Colin Harman

There’s a much debated story of how Helvetica truly came to be. Regardless of it’s back story, it’s hard to deny how much of an impact it has had on our designed world. Helvetica was created by Max Meidinger in Münchenstein, Switzerland in 1957. You can find the lengthy (mostly true) story here. For those of you who are truly interested in the history and impact of Helvetica, there is even a documentary film about it, which in my opinion, is excellent. To give my regards to the famed typeface, I decided to make a poster for my office that told the story of Helvetica all contained within the Swiss Cross.

From a distance the poster just looks like it is faintly printed, but upon closer inspection the story is clearly legible, albeit quite small. It was a fun to work at getting the type size and leading just the proper size to create the cross, yet not manipulate the story to make it fit.

So I found this quote by Louis Nizer the other day and it really peaked my interest. I suppose it’s always revolutionary in a subtle way when philosophy in its raw sense can be slimmed down to a single sentence. I think of a lot of things when I read this, but I just appreciate what he says. I work in an office with no windows, so I decided a while back to start making posters to hang on the wall in my office to bring a little bit of energy and visual appeal to its otherwise bland decor. It’s coming together, but here’s an example of one I put together this past week using, of course, the quote by Sir Nizer.

Louis Nizer

What quotes do you like? Any ideas for a good poster for the office?