不止是字体，更关乎美学、设计，以及个体和社会的关系。
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We think typography is black and white.
我们以为排印设计就是黑色加白色
Typography is really white, it's not even black.
而排印实际上是白的，而不是黑的
lt is the space between the blacks that really makes it.
因为字体是由黑色形体之间的空间来定义的
ln a sense it's like music,
这有点象音乐
it's not the notes, it's the space you put between the notes that makes the music.
音乐不是由音符，而是由音符之间的空间来定义的
what it's all about is the interrelationship of the negative shape
我们实际上谈论的是它们与其“负形”之间的相互关系
the figure-ground relationship,
实体与空间之间的关系
the shapes between characters and within characters,
字体内部，以及字体之间的空间形态
with the black if you like, with the inked surface.
以及黑色部分，如果你喜欢这样称呼的话；和过墨的部分
And the Swiss pay more attention to the background,
而瑞士人更关注于字体的负形
so that the counters and the space
between characters just hold the letters.
所以字谷与字形间的空间就把整个字母固定住了
l mean you can't imagine anything moving;
你看不出丝毫的“松动”
it is so firm.
它就是如此的“结实”
lt's not a letter that's bent to shape;
这不是一套弯曲成形的字体
it's a letter that lives in a powerful matrix of surrounding space.
每一个字母实际上是存在于一个强有力的矩阵所包围着的空间
lt's . . . oh it's brilliant when it's done well.
这实在是... 太出色了，当所有的一切完成之后
Helvetica was a real step from the nineteenth-century typefaces.
相对于19世纪的那些字体，Helvetica 是一个非常重要的突破
lt was a little more machined,
稍微有一点机械的味道
it was doing away with these manual details in it,
没有太多人工的痕迹
and we were impressed by that, because it was more neutral.
它给我们留下很深的印象，因为它更为“中性”
And neutralism was a word that we loved.
而中立主义，是我们喜爱的一个字眼
it shouldn't have a meaning in itself. lt should . . .
它本身不应该包含任何含义，它应该...
the meaning is in the content of the text, not in the typeface.
含义应该来自于文本的内容中，而非字体的表象
Governments and corporations love Helvetica
政府和企业喜欢 Helvetica
because on one hand it makes them seem neutral and efficient,
因为一方面它令他们看上去中立和有效率
but also the smoothness of the letters
makes them seem almost human.
柔和的字形也让他们看起来更人性化
That is a quality they all want to convey
这一直是他们试图传达的质素
because of course they have the image they are always fighting
因为他们一直想改变他们的形象：
that they are authoritarian they're bureaucratic,
独断、官僚、
you lose yourself in them, they're oppressive.
让人失去理性、压迫
So instead, by using Helvetica
然而，改用 Helvetica
they can come off seeming more accessible, transparent, and accountable,
就可以使他们看起来亲切、透明、可靠
American Apparel uses Helvetica and it looks cheeky.
美国服饰 用Helvetica 显出随意
American Airlines uses it and it looks sober.
而美国航空 用 Helvetica 显出稳重
And it's not just a matter of the weight they use and the letter spacing and the colors.
这不仅仅因为他们所使用的字重，字距，和颜色
There's something about the typeface l think
really invites this sort of open interpretation.
还因为字体本身就支持开放性的释读
Why do people buy certain things? The brand rubs off on them.
为什么人们固定地购买某些东西？品牌消减了人们的选择面
And typefaces are a brand.
字体也是一个品牌
You're telling an audience, This is for you,
by using a certain typographic voice.
你用一种特定的"字体排印的声音"告诉"听众"，这是属于你们的
ln a way, Helvetica is a club. lt's a mark of membership;
从某种角度说，Helvetica 就是一个俱乐部，一种会员资格的标记
it's a badge that says we're part of modern society,
它是一个徽章，昭示则我们是现代社会的一分子
we share the same ideals.
我们有着共同的理想
lt's well-rounded, it's not going to be damaging or dangerous.
它方圆周正，不会给人带来破坏和危险的感觉
Helvetica has almost like a perfect balance of push and pull in its letters,
Helvetica 的字母中有着一种近乎完美的收与放的平衡
By the time I started as a designer, it sort
of seemed there was only one trick in town,
当我开始成为一个设计师的时候，这个行业的唯一“技巧”
which was like, what can you use instead of Helvetica.
大概就是，除了Helvetica，你还能用什么？
it seemed like Helvetica had just been used so much and overused so much
我觉得 Helvetica 被广泛地和过度的滥用了
and associated with so many big, faceless things
并且总是与如此众多巨大的、面无表情的事物关联在一起
that it had lost all its capacity even, to my eyes at least, to look nice.
它已经失去了那种令人赏心悦目的能力，至少对我而言
And by the seventies, especially in America,
在70年代，特别是美国
you start to get a reaction against,
人们开始采取行动反抗
what it seems to those designers is the conformity,
那些千篇一律的设计风格
And when I walked into design as a student at Tyler School of Art,
当我作为 泰勒艺术学校的学生，进入设计领域时
what struck me was sort of two separate cultures of design.
两种截然不同的设计文化给我很大的冲击
One was the corporate culture,
一种是公司文化
and the corporate culture was the visual language of big corporations,
公司文化指的是大公司的视觉语言
and at that time they were persuasively Helvetica.
那个时候的公司文化毫无疑问地是 Helvetica
They looked alike, they looked a little fascistic to me.
它们看上去很相似，在我看来有点法西斯
And so ln the Postmodern period, designers were breaking things up.
在后现代时期，设计师们打破一切规矩
They wanted to get away from the orderly, clean, smooth surface of design
他们希望远离有序、干净、柔顺的设计
the horrible slickness of it all, as they saw it
远离他们所见的一切恐怖的匠气的东西
and produce something that had vitality.
创造出具有生命活力的作品
ln the '70s, the young generation was after psychedelic type,
70年代，年轻的一代都喜欢追逐迷幻剂一样的字体
They didn't know what they were caring for,
他们不知道他们在乎什么
they only knew about what they were against.
他们只知道他们要反对什么
And what they were against was Helvetica.
他们要反对的就是 Helvetica
If you are not a good designer, or if you are not a designer,
如果你不是个好的设计师，或者你本来就不是设计师
just use Helvetica Bold in one size,
用固定字号的 Helvetica 粗体就是了
like for a flyer. . . it looks good.
比如用在宣传单页上...它就会... 很好看
So it may very well be that when it comes to trends,
很可能，至少在平面设计的潮流上
at least in graphic design, we've reached sort of the end of history.
我们已经抵达了历史的终点
The pendulum that swings back and forth
doesn't have any more directions it can swing in.
钟摆往复运动，不会再摆向第三个方向
The final trend may simply be the completely
democratic distribution of the means of production
最终的潮流可能就是生产方式完全为大众所用
to anyone who wants it or anyone who can afford it.
每个希望能拥有的人，每个负担得起的人都能得到
It's always changing, time is changing,
世界永远在变，时代在变
the appreciation of typefaces is changing very much.
对字体的欣赏也在发生很大的改变
You are always child of your time, and you cannot step out of that.
人永远都是时代的孩子，无法跳出你所处的时代
