Helvetica is everywhere and used in almost anything, from essential posters and signs to important government documents, logos, advertisements, and everything. It is almost like people cannot escape it. The font will forever be lurking in the background. Due to the font’s simple letterforms, mixed with the rise of modernism, the public saw the font as a window to the future and a sign of professionalism. Four events can be traced back to Helveticas’ rise in dominating the typography world, but they also led to the fonts fading into ubiquity.
Let’s take a look at these events now.
The Name
When Max Miedinger and Eduard Hoffmann first designed Helvetica, it was initially named Neuse Hass Grotesk. The original name was German, and Swiss design was quickly gaining popularity. The designers of the font wanted to capitalize on the success of Swiss design by closely resembling the Latin name of Switzerland, “Helvetia,” but with an added c to protect the font name from a potential lawsuit from a Swiss sewing machine manufacturer. Also, the name change gave Helvetica a more significant international appeal by being more accessible to non-German speakers. When companies and designers across the globe wanted to jump on the trend of Swiss design, they could turn to Helvetica because of its nods to Switzerland.
Beating Univers to the Linotype Library
The second event that helped Helvetica gain popularity was beating the font Univers to the Linotype library. Helvetica and Univers share many similarities, and the small details set them apart. At the time, Linotype was one of the leading printing presses on the market, and by having the typeface font in the Linotype library, people with the Linotype machine could easily use Helvetica. In the ‘60s, before Helvetica entered the Linotype library, Univers was the dominant font in the design world. Univers had the full support of Emil Ruder, a prominent Swiss typographer at the time, through his endorsement and use of the typeface, which made it the number-one font in Swiss design. Univers also had a much bigger family than Helvetica. However, for a font to be added to the library, the font’s italic slope needs to be at a 12-degree angle. Univers’ italic slope was at a 16-degree angle . Adrian Frutiger, the designer of Univers, turned away the ability to add his font to the Linotype library because he did not want to reduce the italic slope to 12. Adrian Frutiger’s stubbornness allowed Helvetica to replace Univers in the Linotype library, allowing designers to use the font with the popular Linotype machine.Even though Univers seems like the font that would have a lasting legacy, it would have left Helvetica in its shadow because of its streamlined design and large family, which appealed to designers. Helvetica is the font that has the legacy, leaving Univers a relic of the past because it made its way to the Linotype machine first, allowing for the font to be easily accessible, thus increasing its reach.
That’s all the Secrets of Helvetica I’m sharing this week. Remember to tune in next time for the other two events that catapulted Helvetica into stardom and its demise.