Omipotent Colonialist Photoshopping Hand Remakes Third World

Oh, wretched, impoverished shopkeepers of the developing world! If only you could put down your weary, paint-splattered arm and stop making handcrafted signs for your stores. If only you had the brilliant Swiss diamond-light of Helvetica. Enter your minimalist paradise.

At the Try Helvetica blog, Brazilian design firm NOONO (So, not really a colonialist thing) virtually redoes hand-painted signage. Out with broad brush strokes, in with sleek, uniform bowls, descenders and spines. Perfect kerning. Swiss excellence. And the results look great! Sure, a bit of culture is compromised when plastered over with ultra-modern sterility, but Helvetica cares not for your indigenous charms, Brazil. Its titanium and porcelain fingers wipe your brow, and clench your throat — you won’t resist its typographic reach. Relent. And look great! [Try Helvetica via Laughing Squid]