helvetica

Helvetica, classified as a Grotesque or Transitional san serif face; was developed in 1957 by Max Miedinger (Swiss typeface designer) and Eduard Hoffmann (director of the Haas Type Foundry). The intention of the typeface was to design a complete neutral typeface, a typeface that had great clarity and consisted of no inherent meaning.

Their design was based on Schelter-Grotesk and Haas’ Normal Grotesk. The font was originally called Neue Haas Grotesk, yet in 1960 the typeface name was changed to allow for use in a greater international market. It was initially suggested that the type be called 'Helvetia' which is the original Latin name for Switzerland, this was ignored by Eduard Hoffmann as he decided it wouldn't be appropriate to name a type after a country. He then decided on 'Helvetica' as this means 'Swiss' as opposed to 'Switzerland'.

From the '60s onward, Helvetica became the font of choice for business' that wanted to convey a modern and contemporary image. Because Helvetica is legible at any scale, companies like Lufthansa and American Airlines adopted the typeface for everything from graphics on airplanes to pens and letterheads.

Since 1985, every Apple computer has included Helvetica as a default font, meaning that Apple licensed the typeface and embedded it in their system. Microsoft not wanting to pay licensing fees looked for a cheaper alternative. In 1992, the Windows chose Arial, a digital Helvetica lookalike, as the default font in their software. Since then Arial has spread rapidly, much to the dismay of many who dismiss it as a parasite. Arial, designed in 1982, while different from Helvetica in some details, has identical character widths, and is indistinguishable by most non-specialist typographers. The capital letters C, G, and R, the number 1 as well as the lowercase letters a, e, r, and t, are useful for quickly distinguishing Arial and Helvetica. The differences include, Helvetica's strokes are typically cut either horizontally or vertically. Where as Arial employs slanted stroke cuts. Helvetica's G has a well-defined spur; Arial does not. The tails of the R glyphs and the a glyphs are different and the number 1 of Helvetica has a square angle underneath the upper spur, Arial has a curve.

Initially Helvetica was seen as a somewhat total neutral font that would mould around feature of the text, yet this has shifted in today’s typographical world. Helvetica has gained a stigma as a modern big business, which influences the inherent meaning of its use.

References

-American Airline (www.aa.com/)

-Muller, Lars -Helvetica: homage to a typeface, Springer 2004

-Helvetica Film (www.helveticfilm.com)

-Helvetica Vs. Arial (www.mimeartist.com/helvetica/)