How to make your own Helvetica : How you can make a classic typeface

Love it or hate it, fact remains you’re going to have to deal with Helvetica

Why is this typeface so ubiquitous? Why can’t we escape the wonder and curse that is Helvetica?

Here are 3 Things that I think made Helvetica the world’s most favorite (or most hated?) typeface. (I love Helvetica though!)

1. No Frills — Helvetica was designed to be neutral, transparent and invisible.
2. Designed for Clarity — The forms that comprise the typeface didn’t have any flourish. It had a single storey g. The double storey /a was designed for readability. though the l/I and 1 are debatable it was a typeface that was ultimately reduced to its core.
3. Easy to Use — As a designer there are certain typefaces that take a while to learn to use, (I’m looking at you Tungsten by Hoefler & Co.) whilst others, ‘just work’ out of the box. Helvetica is a typeface that lent itself to be mangled, distorted and built upon. It’s a great versatile typeface to work it. Everything typeset in Helvetica Bold, just looked polished.

Helvetica has changed the way we read the world. It was because of its ubiquity that the type designers of today ventured out into experimentation. It was because things got so boring (and usable) that designers learned to question the norm and push the boundaries of design

Helvetica pushed the limits of design by simply being within it.

This post was created with Typeshare