Do You See Me?

June 8, 2007 — -- It is so ubiquitous that you don't even realize you are looking it. But every time you see a street sign, flip through a book or read this Web site, there it is.

It is the typeface.

Do you see it now?

What you are reading on this Web site was actually created by typeface designer Matthew Carter for Microsoft in the early 1990s. It's called Verdana.

And while readers take typefaces -- or fonts -- for granted, a good, clear and easily readable one is crucial for everything in life, from following a recipe to obeying traffic directions to reading exit signs during an emergency.

"It is the way we communicate. It is the form of our language," said Christian Larsen, a curatorial assistant at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. "A good typeface ultimately is one that is legible and can communicate. That is what it is designed to do."

To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the creation of Helvetica, one of the world's most famous and most used typefaces, the museum decided to put a spotlight on what has traditionally been invisible.

A new exhibit, which runs through March 2008, features nearly 30 items, including a 26-pound, lead metal lettering set used to print Helvetica and clips from a new documentary about how Helvetica appears everywhere we look.

"It is one of the most famous typefaces of the 20th century," said Larsen.

Bet you didn't know that. Forgot to send a birthday card? Don't worry, most folks didn't know either.

"A lot of people never even think about them," said Larsen, referring to typefaces. "In a way, that is a good thing because you are supposed to be getting the message."

Helvetica was created by Edouard Hoffmann and typographer designer Max Miedinger, who worked for the Haas Type Foundry in 1957 in Manchenstein, Switzerland. The original name of their new font was Neue Haas Grotesk.

At first, use of the font languished for years. Then it was renamed Helvetica, from the Latin word for Switzerland. When the Swiss style of graphic design became internationally popular in the 1960s and 1970s, use of the typeface soared.