I recently watched the 2007 documentary 'Helvetica' and was inspired by the polarising presence of the Swiss-born font. It seems to evoke strong opinions with artists like Paula Scher associating it with capitalism and the Vietnam war whilst others like Danny Van Den Dungen view it as a universal vessel to communicate that encourages everyone to try and put their own twist on it. I find myself on the latter side, though I can't say I'm neutral due to my love of Swiss design, however, I can see the view of those who see it as evocative of capitalism. Whatever side you find yourself on, it cannot be denied that Helvetica has an undeniable presence in the world of graphic design. As a result, I set myself the challenge of searching for Helvetica in the wild; in the real world.
But first, some tips on how to detect Helvetica out in the wild (designshack.net):
The end of each stroke is straight (distinguishes it from arial):
The G has a vertical line that extends beyond the baseline:
The tail on a Q is straight:
So given that this is what I found on my search for Helvetica:
It seems that it can be found in all places where I would initially have not noticed.