For most of us, fonts are just fonts, and haven't they always just been there? You can get lots of them, many are free like those at 1001freefonts.com. Then there are the classic fonts like Arial or Times New Roman that we all know and love to use with our basic word processing software. At the other extreme, some have their own unique fonts that are specially designed and copyrighted and nobody else is allowed to use them (for example, here's a bit about the process of developing a special font for Google's Android cell phone). "Independent Lens: Helvetica" is a film showing on PBS, about the font...helvetica, of course. Developed in 1957 in Switzerland and "at a time when many European countries were recovering from the ravages of war, Helvetica presented a way to express newness and modernity". You had no idea Helvetica had such a rich history, rich enough for film! (check their program guide to see when the film airs on your local stations.)
What Font are you?
I don't often bother with personality quizzes to tell me what kind of person I am, but this one was worth my time (and thanks to Clara for sharing the link to this quiz and the film). So I took the quiz, and apparently, I am Courier. Which is nice. I am pretty happy with this analysis. The courier personality is described thus: like a typewriter-style font on a computer, you go proudly against the grain. You're not afraid to let your opinions be known, and for you, anything is better than being known as conventional.
