Helvetica, or Neue Haas Grotesk, is a sans-serif typeface.
It is a neo-grotesque design, influenced by the 19th-century typeface Akzidenz-Grotesk and other German and Swiss designs. [1]
It was developed in 1957 in the Haas’sche Schriftgiesserei of Münchenstein, Switzerland by Swiss typeface designer Max Miedinger with input from Eduard Hoffmann. [1][2][3]
Hoffmann was the president of the Haas’sche Schriftgiesserei, while Miedinger was a freelance graphic designer. [1]
Miedinger and Hoffmann set out to create a neutral typeface that had great clarity, no intrinsic meaning in its form, and therefore could be used for a wide variety of applications. [1][3]
The typeface was originally named Neue Haas Grotesk. Due to marketing reasons, and to capitalise on Switzerland’s reputation as a centre of ultra-modern graphic design, it was renamed Helvetica in 1960, [1] a close approximation of “Helvetia”, the Latin name for Switzerland. [2][3]
Helvetica today is one of the most broadly used sans serif typefaces.
It has seen many various typographic applications, from the U.S. federal income tax forms, the iOS platform, and numerous corporate logos (e.g., American Airlines, BMW, Microsoft, Nestlé, Target, Toyota, etc.), to the NASA space shuttle orbiters. [2][4]
Some say, even after more than half a century, Helvetica is still the benchmark of good typeface design. [5]
1. Helvetica, Wikipedia (01/10/2020)
2. Helvetica®, fonts.com (01/10/2020)
3. Helvetica® font family, Linotype (01/10/2020)
4. Alex Bigman, 20 famous logos made with Helvetica, 99designs (01/10/2020)
5. Helvetica Now (extended version), Monotype, YouTube, 2019 (01/10/2020)
Helvetica is being licensed by Linotype. (01/10/2020)