Helvetica and Obama's typeface

When I was watching the documentary "Helvetica" I was surprised by how instantly the typefaces they showed throughout the decades could immediately call up for me the look of an era, as easily as fashion or hairstyles usually do. The most effective and interesting part of the documentary was the way they tied type styles to all the larger cultural shifts of the last hundred years. In the article "To the Letter Born" Brian Collins says, "Political campaigns are the Brigadoon of branding. There’s a compressed amount of time to tell a candidate’s story before the race is over and the campaign vanishes." This statement shows why type and graphic design are so representative or iconic of historical eras, from art nouveau print ads of the turn of the century , to concert posters of the 60's. These are the disposable ephemera of everyday life. Unlike most other forms of expression, type and graphics surround us everyday, but only need to be relevant for a short period time. Advertisements and branding just needs to be the most appealing to the most people at a certain moment, that's why it's a great way of understanding the spirit of an age, and the Obama Campaign is no exception. The way that many of the type designers talked about their work, they sounded like fanatical wine connaisseurs discussing a fine vintage, but is simply because they have the language to articulate. I think everyone gets a very strong message from type whether they can articulate it or not, as demonstrated by the word "change" in three different fonts. This is why, in our visual age, when people are more likely to be swayed the look of something, rather than actually read or listen to words, the "branding" that Brian Collins is discussing is the most important part of a political campaign.