Font-tastic Fashion: Helvetica and Kern

Before I get to the main point of this post I should talk about the documentary, Helvetica, that we watched in class today. I've seen parts of it, my design friends have discussed it around me, and it's been sitting in my Netflix queue for months. So other than being educational I can finally take something off of my never ending queue. Leave it to the guys who brought us delicious chocolate and cheese to give us this infamous font.

I never knew how passionate people could get towards a font. But I can see why they can be. We need fonts to do the obvious like spell out words with letters so we can read things and convey messages. But fonts can also represent an attitude, something that letters and words alone can't convey. And apparently tons of people have an attitude towards Helvetica. Like I thought that one guy who kept referring to it as air was going to bawl his eyes out over it.

I'm not going to sit here and say it's the best thing in the universe and that we're all going to die without it. I'm also not going sit here and be that guy (uh, well girl in my case.) who's going to hate on it. Helvetica is simply doing it's thing and it's going to continue to do it's thing until the next Helvetica comes along.

Which finally brings me to the main point of this post. I was checking out my favorite online store, ModCloth and crying because I'm so broke and all I want in life is to own pretty things and found some interesting accessories.

   

Helvetica is all around us. And you can even wear it around your neck for a mere $21 at modcloth.com. (by plastique) I chuckled a little bit when I first saw this. Helvetica is such an iconic font that it can be worn ironically and comically.(or passionately if you're into that kind of thing. I won't judge I promise.) 

But then ModCloth was all, "if you like this, then you might like this too" because that's how they get me every single time. 

 

For $14 at modcloth.com (by plastique) your fingers can kern as far apart or as close as they want. Lovers of quirky jewelry (aka me) and stylish graphic designers with a good sense of humor need these pieces of jewelry as fast as you can see Helvetica being used within 10 feet of wherever you're sitting.