传奇字体 Helvetica（2007）

那就是我们为什么在那里 Helvetica 导致的
That’s why we’re there. Helvetica caused it.
在后现代时期 设计师们打破一切规矩
And so in the Postmodern period, designers were breaking things up.
他们希望远离有序、干净、柔顺的设计
They wanted to get away from the orderly, clean, smooth surface of design
远离他们所见的一切恐怖的匠气的东西
the horrible slickness of it all, as they saw it
创造出具有生命活力的作品
and produce something that had vitality.
总的来说 对于现代主义
I myself got fairly disappointed
我感到相当的失望
with Modernism in general.
施德明
它实在无聊透顶
It simply became boring.
如果我现在看见一本小册子 有大量的留白
If I see a brochure now, with lots of white space
上面有六行 Helvetica
that has, you know, like six lines of Helvetica up on the top
下面是一个抽象的小 logo
and a little abstract logo on the bottom
然后配一张商务人士走路的照片
and a picture of a businessman walking somewhere,
整个东西在对我说
the overall communication that says to me is,
不要读我 因为我会让你无聊到死
Do Not Read Me, because I will bore the shit out of you
不只是在视觉上 而且在内容上
not just visually, but also in content
因为内容和视觉往往是一致的
because the content will likely say the same as it says to me visually.
我 15 、16、 17 岁的时候参加过一些很糟糕的摇滚乐队
I was in terrible rock bands when I was fifteen, sixteen, seventeen,
我想正是那段经历让我接触到唱片封面设计
and I think through that experience got close to the album cover
实际上我上艺术院校也就是因为唱片封面
and essentially I went to art school because of album covers.
我可能是被教育要用自己的双手做一切事情的最后一代人了
I probably was the last generation who got taught doing everything by hand,
所以你懂的 我们用笔刷来画出 10 磅的字体
so you know, we drew 10 pt. type with a brush.
总的来说 查阅字体手册对我来说永远是一件很无聊的事
In general, I was always fairly bored, and you know, looking at type books
翻来覆去地考虑 某个项目到底该选择哪种字体
and deciding over and over again which type to pick for a certain project.
那实在不是一件很有趣的任务
It just didn’t seem a very interesting task to do.
所以我总是想做 CD 封套的设计
So here and there I think with the records, with the CD covers,
我们开始设计自己的字体
we started to do our own type
有一次 我为娄·里德设计一个封套
and I think there was one instance, it was for a Lou Reed cover,
后来这个手写字体因此声名远扬
where this hand drawn typography resonated,
无数的设计项目找上门来 什么方向的都有
and numerous projects came out in that vein, in all sorts of directions.
你懂的 有些方向比较有趣 有些则很严肃
You know, in a more funny direction and in a more serious direction,
有一次为了做一张讲座的海报 一个实习生在我皮肤上割出了字体
where one time an intern carved a hand type into my skin for a lecture poster.
字体存在于一瞬间 在一幅独♥立♥的图像中
The type in an instant, in a single image,
自述了它的诞生 它的由来
tells the story of its making, tells you about its process,
以一种非常优雅的方式 一种非常快速的方式
in a very elegant way, in a very fast way.
那件字体排印作品在设计圈内出人意料地出名了
That typography strangely became so well known, just within the design community
当然 一些人认为那就是我们的全部成就
of course, that some people thought that’s all we do,
谢天谢地 那并不是事实
which thankfully is not the case.
我很怀疑那些人只用三、四种字体的做法是否正确
Well, I always thought that approach of people using only three or four typefaces very suspect.
我想如果是作为设计个案 那样做可能会很有趣
I think this could be interesting to do for a single project
作为一种设定限制的练习 让自己集中精神
as an exercise to put up additional limitations in order to focus yourself.
但作为一个终身的策略
But as a strategy over a lifetime
我想就好比一个作家说
I think it’s akin to a writer saying,
我打算一辈子就用这三四个词来写作
I’m only going to write in three or four words.
没错 你可以那样做 但首先 你为什么这样做？
Yes, you could probably do it, but for one why would you,
其次 一辈子这么做是否真的会产生大量有趣的作品？
and for the second would it really yield an interesting body of work over a lifetime?
设计师们希望表达自己的主观看法
Designers wanted to express their subjectivity,
他们对这个世界的亲身感受
their own feelings about the world,
他们通过设计来表达自己的感觉
their sense that they had something to say through design,
通过他们对设计的选择表达出来
through the design choices they made.
当然这样就招来了争议
And of course this caused controversy.
举个例子 假设是六十年代设计界的教父：马西莫·维涅里
If you take a figure like Massimo Vignelli, who’d been one of the Sixties’ high priests,
他的公♥司♥叫 Unimark
with his company Unimark,
字面上的意思是“始终一致的表达”
it’s right there in the name, Unimark, the idea of a uniform kind of expression.
当他面对这个新作品
When he looked at this new work,
这个充满表现力的、主观的、狂放的作品
this expressive, subjective, wayward,
以及这种完全不讲理的新设计方式 他会作何感想？
to his way of thinking irrational new way of designing,
“看起来那些野蛮人不只是呆在门口
It seemed like the barbarians were not only at the gate,
他们已经如暴风般夺门而入并占领了一切”
but they’d stormed through and they’d taken over.
七十年代 年轻的一代都喜欢追逐迷幻剂一样的字体
In the ’70s, the young generation was after psychedelic type,
什么样的垃圾你都可以弄到
and all the junk that you could find.
到了八十年代 他们的思想完全乱作一团
And also in the ’80s, with their minds completely confused
他们被一种叫做“后现代主义”的病感染
by that… disease that was called Postmodernism,
人们像无头的鸡一样四处乱窜
people were just going around like chickens without their heads,
使用一切所谓“不现代”的字体
by using all kinds of typefaces that came around that could say “not modern”.
他们不知道他们在乎什么
They didn’t know what they were caring for,
他们只知道他们要反对什么 懂吧
they only knew about what they were against. You know.
他们要反对的就是 Helvetica
And what they were against was Helvetica.
我并没有受过正式的训练
I had no formal training in the field,
就我而言 我从不学那些我“应该”学习的知识
In my case I never learned all the things I wasn’t supposed to do.
我只学我感兴趣的东西
I just did what made sense to me.
大卫·卡尔森
我只是在不断的尝试
I was just experimenting really.
所以当人们开始感到失望时 我觉得无法理解
So when people started getting really upset, I didn’t really understand why.
我说 这有什么大不了的？你们在说什么？
I’d say, “What’s the big deal? What are you talking about?”
很多年以后有人对我解释了其中的原因
And it was many years later that somebody explained to me,
可能比我现在解释得更明白些
probably better than I can explain it now,
大体上是这样 有一拨人花了很多时间组织起来
is that basically there was this group that spent a lot of time trying to organize things,
好不容易让某个系统运行起来
and get some kind of system going,
然后他们看着我走进来把它扔出了窗外
and they saw me as coming in and throwing that out the window.
我可能会那样做 但这不是原因
Which I might have done, but it wasn’t the starting point
我并不是有意那样做的
and it wasn’t the plan.
我在之后很晚才知道了“现代主义”之类的术语
And you know… Only much later did I learn the terms Modernism, and this and that.
Ray Gun 杂♥志♥ 很有实验性质
Ray Gun Magazine was very much experimental,
很彻底的实验性 每一♥期♥我们都作很多尝试
it was completely experimental. Every issue we’d try a lot of things
很多尝试都奏效
and a lot of them worked,
也有些不太灵的
and a lot of them didn’t work.
我从来不看印刷样稿 所以很多时候会有些错误
I never saw proofs so a lot of times there were just mistakes,
最低级的错误 人们会写长篇大论
flat-out mistakes, that people would write long essays on
为什么我把这个黑色的字 放在了一个黑色靴子或者别的什么上面？
why I did this black type on a black boot, or something.
不 我没见过印刷样稿 你们在讨论什么？
No, I never saw a proof, what are you talking about?
要做好那些比较主观的、诠释性的作品不是那么简单的
It’s very hard to do the more subjective, interpretive stuff well.
你知道 我可以教大街上的任何人
You know, I can teach anybody off the street
如何设计一个像模像样的商业名片或简报
how to design a reasonable business card or newsletter.
但是如果我把同一拨人带去听一张 CD
But if I bring the same group off the street and play a CD
然后说 “好 现在让我们为那段音乐设计一个封套”
and say, “Okay, now let’s interpret that music for a cover,
十个人中有九个会感到手足无措
well 9 out of 10 are going to be lost
他们会做出一些毫无新意的东西
and are going to do something corny and expected,
但会有人做出一些令人吃惊的东西
and one person is going to do something amazing
因为那段音乐传达给他们一些东西 将他们引向某个方向
because that music spoke to them and it sent them in some direction
每个人去的方向都不一样 但我在乎的正是这些有意思的、
that nobody else could go. And that’s the area to me where it gets more interesting
激动人心的、更情绪化的地方
and exciting, and more emotional.
最好的作品就是这样来的
And that’s where the best work comes from.
这是篇关于歌♥手布莱恩·费瑞的文章
This is an article on the singer Bryan Ferry,
我读起来的时候 和我以前读过的那么多文章没什么区别
and when I read the article it was very much like so many of these others I had read,
我就像是 哦天啊 那有多让人失望 多么的无聊啊
and I was like, oh man, how disappointing, how boring.
然后我看了看我所有的字体 现在差不多有成百上千了
And I went through all my fonts, which at the time would’ve been hundreds and hundreds,
呃 好吧 仍然是那个问题…
uhm, well, it still is for that matter, but…
我找不到使这篇文章的看上去不那么恶心和乏味的字体
and didn’t find one that seemed to fit my disgust and boredom with this article.
最终我在列表的最底部找到了 Dingbats
And I finally came to the bottom and there was Dingbats,
现在的名字叫 Zapf Dingbats 所以按字母排序它是最后一个
which of course now it’s Zapf Dingbats so it’s literally the last one.
然后我想 既然这篇文章如此无聊 不值一读
And I was like, well it’s boring and not worth reading,
那为什么不用 Zapf Dingbats 来排版？
why not do it in Zapf Dingbats?
这也是一个字体啊 所以就全部用 Dingbats 好了
It’s a font. So it’s all set in Dingbats,
这真的是个字体 你可以把它全选换成 Helvetica 或者别的什么字体
it is the actual font, you could highlight it and make it Helvetica or something
然后你就可以阅读了
and you’d be able to read it
但是它的确不值 它写得实在不是很好
but it really wouldn’t be worthwhile, it’s not very well-written.
别把易读性和信息传达混为一谈
Don’t confuse legibility with communication.
某样东西清晰易读 并不说明它能能传达信息
Just because something’s legible, doesn’t mean it communicates
更重要的是 并不意味着它传达了正确的信息
And more importantly doesn’t mean it communicates the right thing.
反过来说 某个东西或许开始的时候很难辨识
And vice-versa, something that may be difficult to initially read
但它传达了一种全然不同的信息
maybe sending a completely different message
同时又切合主题
that is valid for where it’s being used,
那么 或许它就是需要读者多花点时间和心思的
and that may require a little more time or the involvement of the reader.
这种方式表达的效果往往要更为强烈
But it almost seems stronger the other way,
如果有条非常重要的信息用一种平凡无聊的方式排出来
if something is a very important message and it’s set in a boring, non-descript way,
这条消息很可能就被人忽略了
the message can be lost.
我说这一点“含咖♥啡♥因♥”的意思也没有！
I mean that doesn’t say “caffeinated”!
就像说“你好”一样没有实际含义
It’s just like, hello?
（为什么没有呢？）
Why Not?
它就呆在那儿！完全嗅不出咖♥啡♥因♥的味道来!
It’s just sitting there! There’s nothing caffeinated about it!