2–3 minutes
Hi friends!
Today, I wanted to share a little bit about one of my favorite fonts, Helvetica. Helvetica is one of my favorite fonts because it is both simple and beginner-friendly, and classic and elegant when needed.
Here’s what you need to know about Helvetica.
- It was created in 1957 by Max Alfons Miedinger, who was commissioned to design a new font to rival Akzidenz Grotesk. Here’s a comparison between the two fonts (Helvetica is in red, while Akzidenz Grotesk is in blue):
- Helvetica wasn’t always called Helvetica! Before its name was changed in 1960, it was called Neue Haas Grotesk. It was renamed after Mike Parker, the director of the American Mergenthaler Linotype Company, added the font to the company’s font library. Before it was added, it was redesigned and adapted by Arthur Ritzel (a German designer) to fit the standards of the Linotype machines.
- It is one of the most widely used fonts in advertising, publishing, and signage. In fact, Helvetica was actually used to create the new signage for the New York Metro!
- In 1983, Helvetica was updated to a new version named “Neue Helvetica,” which increased the space between numbers and added density to the punctuation marks. After it was updated, Steve Jobs added Neue Helvetica to the font library of the first Macintosh, which was monumental at the time, as the font had yet to go digital.
- Companies such as Jeep, BMW, Microsoft, Panasonic, JCPenney, and Oral-B (just to name a few) all use Helvetica in their logos or advertisements. Even the United States government, NASA, and the EU use it!
- It is also used on both Facebook and Instagram!
- There is a new version of the font named “Helvetica Now” that was released in 2019, which claims to have better spacing and increased legibility, especially on small electronic devices.
One of my favorite things about this font is that there are so many variations that you can choose from to add variety to your designs, while keeping a sense of overall unity. Even when choosing between the original Helvetica and Helvetica Neue, you’re always going to find something that pairs well together!
Credit to: https://www.pixartprinting.co.uk/blog/history-font-helvetica/ for the fast facts on Helvetica!