Back in journalism school, I had a class in typography (study of fonts). I loved this class. I knew all the fonts–it was part of your grade. This was even a question on a test once: “What typeface would you be and why?”.

Helvetica, a ubiquitous typeface, is celebrating its 50th anniversary. Most of this information I got from Slate. Helvetica was designed by the Haas Type Foundry in Swizterland. Since then, the typeface can be seen everywhere from Target, American Airlines to New York City’s subway system. The typeface you see here as body text is Arial. Bummer.

Here’s something I didn’t know. I had learned to distinguish Arial from Helvetica back in typography class. Arial is Microsoft’s cheaper alternative. Helvetica was licensed by Apple. Microsoft chose a different route.

Helvetica is the subject of a small exhibition at New York’s Museum of Modern Art. There is also a book Helvetica: Homage to a Typeface. A new feature-length documentary, Helvetica (2007) has been playing at film festivals and art schools since March.