Well, if you are like me in any way you will be tempted to use Helvetica when it comes to choosing a typeface for a new project. The ‘because it just works’ rationale is not going to work on your clients forever. So I thought I would just take a little plunge in to the history of this 50 year old typeface and show you some of the work it has been used on and to what effect.
So, firstly the name. Originally called ‘Neue Hass Grostesk’, ‘Helvetica’ was developed by two men Max Miedinger and Eduard Hoffmann at the Hass Type Foundry in Münchenstein, Switzerland. Their brief was to create a new Sans-serif typeface that could compete with the big daddy Akidenz-Grotesk, Helvetica was the result and in 1957 it was unleashed into the Swiss marketplace - after three years it was renamed to Helvetica (stemming from Confoederatio Helvetica - the Latin name for Switzerland) by Hass’ German parent company - and the rest as they say is history! Helvetica now is so recognisable that it has become associated with numerous companies and organisations.
This is my dilemma when it comes to choosing a typeface - should I or shouldn’t I use Helvetica? On the one hand I know what it is capable of - shades of Ultra Thin, Bold, Extra Black, but on the other the question am I just relying on Helvetica to do the work of finding the right font for the right job for me? If I can honest - probably the latter. So, where do we go from here? Do we abandon Helvetica? or save her for a project that would suit her? Or should this encourage us to work harder at designing pieces for our clients and not just plonking their name in 75 Bold and hope it does the job?
Despite all that it does ‘just work’.
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