Creative Review - The Helvetica killer:
PB: Do you always need those idiosyncracies in typefaces?
BM: You do, otherwise what’s the point? Why use this or that? When people choose a typeface it’s not a rational decision, it’s completely emotional. They home in on details and say ‘I love that, that’s why I’m going to use it’. But then they want a rational explanation to tell their client.
I like Aktiv, but to my eyes it looks like a quirky mix between Helvetica and Univers. As Maag admits, Helvetica was successful because it’s neutral—it has no soul, hence it’s universal utility.
