As you look back at your birthday calendar for 2007, you may have accidentally left out the birthday of a celebrity you likely see everyday. This ubiquitous hotshot is, of course, the typeface Helvetica. This popular sans serif font celebrated its 50th birthday this past year, with tributes around the world. Some of these events included poster design contests (sponsored by Linotype), the release of the font family Helvetica World, lots of additional merchandise, a museum exhibit, and of course Helvetica, the film.
The Birth of Helvetica
Max Meidinger of the Hass type foundry in Switzerland designed Helvetica in 1957. It was a redesign of Hass Grotesk, meant to compete with Akzindez Grotesk, a popular typeface at the time. Originally it was named Neue Hass Grotesk. Shortly after the design’s completion the rights to the face were sold, eventually landing in the hands of Linotype, who own the font to this day.
Helvetica’s Rebirth
As with many new designs, in its beginning, Neue Hass Grotesk suffered from a poor following. It was a difficult life for font makers prior to the desktop publishing era, as new fonts were quite expensive, and buyers were apprehensive about investing in new designs.
Matthew Carter, the creator of Veranda and Georgina, comments “If we’d known about it [Neue Hass Grotesk], I’m sure we would have used it, since it’s a much better typeface than the one I drew, but the typesetting trade was very conservative then, and new type designs traveled slowly.“ (Rawsthorn,2007)
Things quickly improved for this font however, beginning with a re-branding. Neue Hass Grotesk was patriotically renamed Helvetica, meaning Switzerland. Shortly after, desktop publishing changed the world of typography, allowing enthusiastic designers to purchase fonts far more affordably, and type foundries to distribute them easily. Helvetica was on it’s way to becoming a roaring success!
An 80’s Child
By the 1980’s, Helvetica was all around us. Swedish design in general became very popular. The first line of Macintosh computers was arriving, with every designer plugging in. Helvetica was offered free of charge with Macintosh software systems, making it readily available to industry professionals.
A Twin is born?
As Microsoft released their operating system in the early 80’s, they wanted to have their own version of “Helvetica success”. With Monotype, Linotype’s competitor, they created Arial and released it as part of their software. Though there are some notable differences, novice users are easily fooled by this copycat.
Can you spot the difference?
Arial or Helvetica:
Rates helvetica
true type arial
WINDOWS arial
rip-off helvetica
outlines helvetica
quizzical arial
Microsoft helvetica
no-one knows helvetica
APPLE arial
operating system arial
Here are a few quick pointers on how to spot Arial.
Helvetica Arial Tip
a a - Helvetica’s “a” has a tail
- The bowl of the “a” in Helvetica flows into the stem, Arial’s intersects
t t - Helvetica’s “t” cuts off straight at the top, while Arial has an angle
C C - Helvetica ends strokes with a perfect horizontal, while Arial is slightly angled
G G - Helvetica’s “G” has a spur
- Helvetica’s bottom curve flows into the stem, Arial’s intersects
R R - Helvetica’s “R” flows out of the bowl with a curve, while Arial is straighter
Helvetica Today
Today this typeface is known for its sleek and efficient corporate image. Many big brand names are represented by Helvetica, including:
American Airlines
Microsoft (ironically)
Evian
Intel
Lufthansa
Nestlé
Toyota
Helvetica’s ubiquity has inspired both adulation and detraction—Frank Wildenberg, Linotype’s managing director, says that Helvetica is “durable. It comes from natural design forms. It doesn’t have an expression of fashion. It has very clear lines and characters, it looks like a very serious typeface‚Ķ”
In contrast, Neville Brody says that “When people choose Helvetica, they want to fit in and look normal. They use Helvetica because they want to be a member of the efficiency club. They want to be a member of modernism. They want to be a member of no personality. It also says bland, unadventurous, unambitious.”
(Rohrer, 2007)
And while some blame the typeface for being too snobby and corporate, one thing is for sure—whether you like it or not, it’s hard to avoid.
Want more?
The following are some quick links to find out more about Helvetica:
Museum of Modern Art, New York
50 Years of Helvetica (open till March 31st, 2008)
http://moma.org/exhibitions/exhibitions.php?id=4506
Helvetica Film
Now available on DVD
Veer.com
Access to some great Helvetica merchandise
http://www.veer.com/search/results.aspx?keyword=helvetica&producttype=ME...
OR
http://www.helveticafilm.com/shop.html
Helvetica the font
Available through Linotype
http://www.linotype.com/526/helvetica-family.html#
References
Arial or Helvetica? URL:http://www.iliveonyourvisits.com/helvetica/#
Fineman, Mia. (2007, May 25). The Helvetica Hegemony: How an Unassuming Font Took Over the World. Retrieved December 19th, 2007 from
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/
magazine/6638423.stm
Fonts Have Feelings. Retrieved December19th, 2007 from http://www.hotchilli.com.au/Articles/
corpid_article_fontsfeelings.htm
Hustwit, Gary. (n.d.) Various material retrieved December 19th, 2007 from www.helveticafilm.com
Rawthorn, Alice. (2007, April 1). Helvetica: The little typeface that leaves a big mark [Electronic Version]. International Herald Tribune. Retrieved December 19th, 2007 from http://www.iht.com/
articles/2007/03/30/arts/design2.php
Rohrer, Finlo. (2007, May 9). Helvetica at 50 [Electronic Version]. BBC News Magazine. Retrieved December 19th , 2007 from ttp://www.slate.com/id/2166887/?GT1=10034
Simonson, Mark. (2001). Sidebar: How to Spot Arial. Retrieved December 19th, 2007 from
http://www.ms-studio.com/articlesarialsid.html
Wikipedia. Retrieved December 19th 2007 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helvetica
