Not everybody loves Helvetica. It's pretty boring, seriously overused, and in its own way tacky. That said, it has historical value. Watch the movie Helvetica f

Not everybody loves Helvetica. It's pretty boring, seriously overused, and in its own way tacky. That said, it has historical value. Watch the movie Helvetica for more details, but the short of it is that it was introduced during that time the author speaks of where people were just starting to see the potential of graphic design. You'd hire a fancy new designer to come in and revitalize your company's letterhead and they'd present you with a blank, brilliantly white sheet of paper with your company's name in Helvetica. It was stark, amazing, totally lifeless, but just so New it was easy to buy in. Then add in that for all Helvetica's faults, it is amazingly versatile and readable. It is absolutely well designed for it's somewhat sterile purposes and therefore easy to paste up everywhere. Couple that with an air of Newness and, ironically, personalization of hiring your own print designer and next thing you know it's everywhere wnd beloved. There's a lot more to the story, of course, but it all turns to the historical value of Helvetica being the font that a new wave of popular design championed. It was there when people wanted and needed it. (It's also worth mentioning it's Swiss heritage and how often the relatively unique Swiss design aesthetic gets conflated with cries for simplicity, modernity, and "clean". All deserved, sure, but they certainly understate the contribution of valuing space and openness that seems to be the heart of that movement, to me. I've often heard that their design is inspired by the openness of the Swiss landscapes. Unique, beautiful, but hardly the Final Word in design aesthetics.)