THE LETTER10 Staying neutral
SIMPLICITY AND NEUTRALITY allow the text to take precedence. The maxim “cleanliness is next to godliness” is the theory behind this approach; the classic Swiss school of design typifies it. Neutrality possesses a cool elegance, which may be either classical or modern, depending on whether serif or sans serifs typefaces are used, and, of course, how they are used to contain the content.
Some designers find staying neutral to be a boring and banal exercise. The recently released Helvetica, a documentary film by Gary Hustwit, addresses the controversy over whether neutrality is a desirable characteristic or whether neutrality simply propagates anonymity and blandness. Helvetica is a typeface that exemplifies neutrality; ...
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