Friday 5 February 2010

Helvetica Hysteria


Right. Enough of this work lark, time to knock off and pop up to the smoke for, well, a smoke. And a fair few drinks with like-minded souls, of course.

Just time to highlight a small piece in The Grocer which shows the paranoia which has descended on the new measures to hide tobacco.

One main concern is the "overly prescriptive" regulations on price lists. They must be printed only in black Helvetica font on a white sheet no larger than A4, and contain only brand names, pack sizes and rrps.

All words except the title should be no higher than 4mm, which is right on the minimum threshold recommended for people with sight difficulties by the Royal National Institute of Blind People.

...stores with a large range would have to use a tiny type size.

The printed word larger than 4mm is now a threat to health, apparently.




8 comments:

Anonymous said...

And so sayeth the Pharisees to the Scribes of the land, go forth and speaketh only the Truth as the Pharisees decree Truth to be, from the Temple of the holies, and be it in type set only in the size and manner most beholding to the eyes of the people, so that no heresy as brought by that troubleth-maker Jesus Christ and his rabble, the smoking sinners, may ever be brought into clear thought again, and may the Glory of the Pharisees and their king here on earth liveth for the eternity of the next 1,000 years. Amen, or a prayer something to that effect.

Anonymous said...

Who cares.
How many people buy fags in the UK now anyway.
Arrrr! smugglin, aaaaar!

RantinRab said...

It's happening within 2 years up here, apparently.

Fucking idiots.

Anonymous said...

Anon said "Who cares"
Nobody gives a Jurrassic sized
poo for plain packeting.
Its only dipsticks who still buy
cigs in British shops.
Whats that we hear,somebody saying
its not fair on the shopkeepers,
oh please , come back down from
your Solar Cruise and enjoy the
world of SELF


Major Tom

Demetrius said...

Is this a puff for The Grocer?

Sam Duncan said...

Will the police now have to recruit typographers, then?

“Excuse me sir, but the law clearly specifies Helvetica, and this is obviously Univers 55. I hereby charge you with willfully depicting an uppercase G without a spur. You're going down, sunshine.”

Anonymous said...

So people with sight difficulties would be forced to use small shops that don't stock many brands as a larger shop would have to make the writing even smaller.
Discrimination against poorly sighted folk methinks.

Pat Nurse MA said...

anonymous - discrimination is actively encouraged against smokers by law. If they happen to be blind, then all the better.