Book: Helvetica Forever

Lars Müller is fascinated by the sans serif font. Following the highly successful Helvetica: Homage to a Typeface, published in 2005, the eponymous typeface has found even more fame with a documentary, demonstrating that there's a design-hungry audience out there, eager for the low-down on what many people simply take for granted.
Helvetica Forever: Story of a Typeface, also published by Müller, together with Victor Malsy, is the book for them. Beautifully designed, as one would expect, the book attempts to tackle the great paradox at the heart of Helvetica - how could a typeface designed for modest, almost invisible ubiquity, become such a well-known, almost iconic 'brand'.
Originally named 'New Haas Grotesk,' Eduard Hoffman's typeface became Helvetica, a name that was felt to help its international appeal. The Haas foundry never looked back, and the typeface became one of the foundation stones of 1960s design before becoming fully integrated into the digital era. Complete with reproductions of Hoffman's original design journals, this is the perfect book for design obsessives.
Wallpaper* Newsletter
Receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories from around the world direct to your inbox.
-
Waiting for Ideas have recast the turntable as a minimal aluminium altar for vinyl worship
The PP-1 turntable is an ultra-minimal, all-aluminium record player designed to enhance the vinyl experience
By Jonathan Bell Published
-
Fendi celebrates 100 years with all-out runway show at its new Milan HQ
In the wake of Kim Jones’ departure, Silvia Venturini Fendi took the reins for a special co-ed A/W 2025 collection marking the house’s centenary, unveiling it as the first act of celebrations within Fendi’s expansive new headquarters in Milan
By Jack Moss Published
-
‘Leigh Bowery!’ at Tate Modern: 1980s alt-glamour, club culture and rebellion
The new Leigh Bowery exhibition in London is a dazzling, sequin-drenched look back at the 1980s, through the life of one of its brightest stars
By Amah-Rose Abrams Published
-
Daniel Arsham’s new monograph collates the works of the auto-obsessed American artist
‘Arsham Motorsport’ is two volumes of inspiration, process and work, charting artist Daniel Arsham’s oeuvre inspired by the icons and forms of the automotive industry
By Jonathan Bell Published
-
Era-defining photographer David Bailey guides us through the 1980s in a new tome not short of shoulder pads and lycra
From Yves Saint Laurent to Princess Diana, London photographer David Bailey dives into his 1980s archive in a new book by Taschen
By Tianna Williams Published
-
Inside Joan Didion’s unseen diary of personal relationships and post-therapy notes
A newly discovered diary by Joan Didion is soon to be published. Titled 'Notes to John', the journal documents her relationship with her daughter, husband, alcoholism, and depression
By Tianna Williams Published
-
Carsten Höller’s new Book of Games: 336 playful pastimes for the bold and the bored
Artist Carsten Höller invites readers to step out of their comfort zone with a series of subversive games
By Anne Soward Published
-
Distracting decadence: how Silvio Berlusconi’s legacy shaped Italian TV
Stefano De Luigi's monograph Televisiva examines how Berlusconi’s empire reshaped Italian TV, and subsequently infiltrated the premiership
By Zoe Whitfield Published
-
How a sprawling new book honours the legacy of cult photographer Larry Fink
‘Larry Fink: Hands On / A Passionate Life of Looking’ pays homage to an American master. ‘He had this ability to connect,’ says publisher Daniel Power
By Jordan Bassett Published
-
New Jay-Z coffee-table book dives into the Brooklyn rapper's archives
'Book of HOV: A Tribute to Jay-Z' is a hefty tome for a hefty talent
By Craig McLean Published
-
Discover Eve Arnold’s intimate unseen images of Marilyn Monroe
‘Marilyn Monroe by Eve Arnold’, published by ACC Art Books, is a personal portrayal of an icon
By Hannah Silver Published