Helvetica The Perfume began as a conversation in our studio. If Helvetica were a perfume, what would it smell like?
We all answered almost in unison– it would smell like nothing. So we set out to embody the idea of nothingness as a perfume. Bottles printed in 24K gold inks and black on black letterpressed boxes were the appropriate expression of this idea, further fetishizing the idea of Helvetica.
While Helvetica The Perfume is an homage to a typeface beloved the world over, the idea of a perfume inspired by nothingness is bigger than a beautiful object. We hope that this product causes people to think about everything from what nothing actually smells like to the beautiful absurdity of the perfume category.
Concept description:
In 1957, Max Miedinger and Eduard Hoffmann set out to create a new sans-serif typeface for the Swiss design market. Their goal: to create a highly legible and completely neutral expression of the Modernist design movement to which they belonged. This typeface was to have no intrinsic meaning, allowing the content to convey the message.
Helvetica has gone on to become arguably the most ubiquitous and widely used typeface in history.
It is in this spirit that we have created the ultimate Modernist perfume – a scent distilled down to only the purest and most essential elements to allow you, the content, to convey your message with the utmost clarity.
Air. Water. You.
Experience the scent of nothing at HelveticaThePerfume.com
We produced two video pieces to accompany the project. They were shot over the course of two days in NYC with a team of photographers, videographers and designers. We used a RED camera to capture the action in high def slow motion. All footage is shot in camera without the use of special effects in post.
