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.

Right in Front of Your Eyes

"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.

Helvetica's legibility and overall functionality attracted designers to use it. And like Switzerland, it was considered neutral.

It was "trying to be neutral and avoided personality, individuality," explained Richard Ford, executive creative director of Landor, a brand consulting firm that also develops corporate logos and images. "It is focused much more around how to make things legible."

For that reason, it can be seen everywhere, from New York subway signs to corporate logos for companies like American Airlines, American Apparel, J.C. Penney, Sears and Staples.

"We began using about it about 40 years ago as the logo on our airplanes," said Tim Smith, a spokesman with American Airlines. "I guess we just consider it a powerful logo because we haven't changed it in 40 years either."

And even though typefaces may be overlooked by readers, businesses struggle to find the right one in order to convey certain emotions they want their customers to feel.

"Helvetica is essentially good at functional tasks like road signs, way finding signs around buildings, directions and information," said Ford. "This is where those typefaces really score because they're easy to read, easy to use, and be can read at a great distance."

But, Ford added, Helvetica is "not evocative, not emotional." Helvetica simply communicates information.

"The graphic signature of Virgin Airlines is a piece of handwriting and is unlike any other airline signature in the industry," explained Ford by way of comparison with Helvetica. "It speaks volumes to the kind of rule breaker, maverick mentality that is exactly what Virgin tries to manifest in marketplace."

For those companies that do use Helvetica, often the type is paired with another image. Staples added an image of a staple to the "l" in its name. American Airlines put two "a's" together in red and blue for its logo.

Typefaces are so important to business; even the publications that follow it take the selection of one seriously. The recently launched business magazine Condé Nast Portfolio selected a font called Brunel.

"To have our own special look immediately is a very important tool to get readers comfortable with the publication," said the magazine's designer director Robert Priest in an e-mail. "The typography helps the reader to quickly navigate the pages in an intuitive way."

Getting Noticed

Typefaces have come a long way since being carved into stones with chisels or moulded into lead type for printing. With the advent of personal computers, people can now choose their own from that little rectangular box on their computer screen that reads Verdana or Arial.

Which might explain why Larsen said the exhibit has been popular.

"Everyone has to choose [a font] when typing an e-mail. It's not elitist or intellectual. It's a part of everyday life."

Charles Herman writes regularly for ABCNEWS.com — using the Verdana font.