The main influence on Helvetica was Akzidenz-Grotesk from Berthold Hoffman's scrapbook of proofs of the design shows careful comparison of test proofs with snippets of Akzidenz-Grotesk. His goal is to design a new sans serif font that can compete in the Swiss market, as a neutral font that should not be given any additional meaning.
The first version of the typeface (which later became known as Helvetica) was created in 1957 by Swiss type designer Max Miedinger. This design appears to use Helvetica or a close imitation. History A 1969 poster by Robert Geisser exemplifying the "Swiss" style of the 1950s and 60s: solid red colour, simple images and neo-grotesque sans-serif type, all in lower case. A feature-length film directed by Gary Hustwit was released in 2007 to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the typeface's introduction in 1957. Originally named Neue Haas Grotesk (New Haas Grotesque), it was rapidly licensed by Linotype and renamed Helvetica in 1960, which in Latin means "Swiss", from Helvetia, capitalising on Switzerland's reputation as a centre of ultra-modern graphic design.
Miedinger and Hoffmann set out to create a neutral typeface that had great clarity, had no intrinsic meaning in its form, and could be used on a wide variety of signage. Hoffmann was the president of the Haas Type Foundry, while Miedinger was a freelance graphic designer who had formerly worked as a Haas salesman and designer. Notable features of Helvetica as originally designed include a high x-height, the termination of strokes on horizontal or vertical lines and an unusually tight spacing between letters, which combine to give it a dense, solid appearance.ĭeveloped by the Haas'sche Schriftgiesserei ( Haas Type Foundry) of Münchenstein ( Basel), Switzerland, its release was planned to match a trend: a resurgence of interest in turn-of-the-century "grotesque" sans-serifs among European graphic designers, that also saw the release of Univers by Adrian Frutiger the same year. Over the years, a wide range of variants have been released in different weights, widths, and sizes, as well as matching designs for a range of non-Latin alphabets. Its use became a hallmark of the International Typographic Style that emerged from the work of Swiss designers in the 1950s and 1960s, becoming one of the most popular typefaces of the mid-20th century. Helvetica is a neo-grotesque design, one influenced by the famous 19th-century (1890s) typeface Akzidenz-Grotesk and other German and Swiss designs. Helvetica, also known by its original name Neue Haas Grotesk, is a widely used sans-serif typeface developed in 1957 by Swiss typeface designer Max Miedinger and Eduard Hoffmann. Good luck with your purchase and future use of this font.Not to be confused with Helvetia, the national personification of Switzerland. The designer and publisher deserves to be paid for their work, as they have put in the hours and the creativity to produce such an amazing font. Here you will be able to obtain the proper license.
If you really want and you want to truly own it the legal and safe way, then click here to visit the download and purchase page on. In the rare occasion that you do find a free download for remember that it's illegal to use a font if you didn't pay for it! There's a lot of websites that will say "Free Download" but these are just attempts to get you to click on a link which will either take you to an ad landing page or you risk getting viruses on your computer. It is highly unlikely that you'll be able to find for free. There is no point trying to find a free download of so please don't waste your time looking. We do have a Free Fonts section where we list free fonts that you can download. You will need to pay for it I'm afraid.Īlmost every font that we list on is a paid-for, premium font. For more previews using your own text as an example, click here. Here is a preview of how URW DIN™ will look.
URW DIN Semi Condensed Extra Light Italic.The URW DIN™ includes the following font families: Its large x-height makes it perfect for use in e-publishing (web, apps, e-Books etc) and its adjusted stroke width between the regular and bold weights enhances its quality and distinguishability in print. It is semi-condensed, which is unique among the DIN fonts, so it has a broad spectrum of typographic uses. They have since become so popular in other areas that we have developed a complete DIN font family with 48 styles in OpenType Pro: URW DIN. Both typefaces were designed for the URW SIGNUS system and were mainly used for the production of traffic signs. The digital outline fonts, DIN 1451 Fette Engschrift and Fette Mittelschrift were created by URW in 1984 and are the basis for all DIN font families.