Helvetica
Helvetica is a sans serif typeface inspired inspired by the 1896 font Akzidenz Grotesk. The original, named Die Neue Haas Grotesk, was designed by Max Miedinger with help from Eduard Hoffmann in 1957 for the Haas Type Foundry in Muenchenstein, Switzerland. The font was renamed in 1960 by the marketing director at Stempal to make the font more marketable internationally. It was suggested that the typeface be named Helvetia, which is Latin for Switzerland), but the designers agreed not to name it after a country and therefore settled for Helvetica, Latin for Swiss.
In post-war Europe, many companies were looking for a change and wanted to break away from all the decorative and fancy typography that was all over corporate materials and advertisements at the time, Helvetica was the change they were looking for. Looking to remake their identities and to set themselves apart from the past Helvitica’s sleek lines and modern sensibilities were just what the companies were looking for. The typeface was created specifically to be neutral and not give off an impression, this was based on the idea that type itself should give no meaning.
"It's durable. It comes from natural design forms. It doesn't have an expression of fashion. It has very clear lines and characters, it looks like a very serious typeface," - Frank Wildenberg, managing director of Linotype, the German firm that owns the font.
Helvetica has become associated with corporate culture and business and is particularly well-suited to signage and designs where legibility is key. Neville brody who inspired a spike of Helvetica use with his design for Arena magazine in the 80’s notes that the typeface represents a safe choice for businesses.
The typeface’s dominance over the past half centertuy was reinforced by the release of Neue Helvetica in the 1980’s which varied with more unified heights and widths among its characters as well as improved legibility, increased spacing in numbers, and heavier punctuation marks.
In post-war Europe, many companies were looking for a change and wanted to break away from all the decorative and fancy typography that was all over corporate materials and advertisements at the time, Helvetica was the change they were looking for. Looking to remake their identities and to set themselves apart from the past Helvitica’s sleek lines and modern sensibilities were just what the companies were looking for. The typeface was created specifically to be neutral and not give off an impression, this was based on the idea that type itself should give no meaning.
"It's durable. It comes from natural design forms. It doesn't have an expression of fashion. It has very clear lines and characters, it looks like a very serious typeface," - Frank Wildenberg, managing director of Linotype, the German firm that owns the font.
Helvetica has become associated with corporate culture and business and is particularly well-suited to signage and designs where legibility is key. Neville brody who inspired a spike of Helvetica use with his design for Arena magazine in the 80’s notes that the typeface represents a safe choice for businesses.
The typeface’s dominance over the past half centertuy was reinforced by the release of Neue Helvetica in the 1980’s which varied with more unified heights and widths among its characters as well as improved legibility, increased spacing in numbers, and heavier punctuation marks.
Gill Sans
Gill Sans is a san serif typeface designed by Eric Gill. He drew inspiration from his teacher and friend Edward Johnston’s iconic typeface Johnston Sans which was designed for the London Underground in 1913. Eric Gill thought the typeface needed improvement so then set out to create the perfect legible typeface.
“The first notable attempt to work out the norm for plain letters was made by Mr Edward Johnston when he designed the sans-serif letter for the London Underground Railways. Some of these letters are not entirely satisfactory, especially when it is remembered that, for such a purpose, an alphabet should be as near as possible ‘fool-proof’… as the philosophers would say—nothing should be left to the imagination of the sign-writer or enamel-plate maker.” (Gill, 1931)
A complete font family was commissioned by Stanley Morison who noticed the typefaces commercial potential. This was commercially released by Monotype in 1928 and was met with overwhelming success. The font really rose to popularity in 1929 when it became the standard typeface for the London and North Eastern Railway (LNER), where it appeared on everything from locomotive nameplates to time tables.
The typeface has always been renowned for its inconsistencies between weights, which has made it a very versatile typeface with different characteristics between weights. This was due to them not being produced from a single design, like Helvetica. The typeface also stood out as it has a less mechanical feel then its opponents at the time due to being based on classic roman proportions.
The font was originally recommended for advertising and headlines, but also took off in use for body text as the public got used to reading san serif. Today, Gill Sans can be seen in use by many well-known companies such as; Tommy Hilfiger, Toy Story, Penguin Publishing and the BBC.
“The first notable attempt to work out the norm for plain letters was made by Mr Edward Johnston when he designed the sans-serif letter for the London Underground Railways. Some of these letters are not entirely satisfactory, especially when it is remembered that, for such a purpose, an alphabet should be as near as possible ‘fool-proof’… as the philosophers would say—nothing should be left to the imagination of the sign-writer or enamel-plate maker.” (Gill, 1931)
A complete font family was commissioned by Stanley Morison who noticed the typefaces commercial potential. This was commercially released by Monotype in 1928 and was met with overwhelming success. The font really rose to popularity in 1929 when it became the standard typeface for the London and North Eastern Railway (LNER), where it appeared on everything from locomotive nameplates to time tables.
The typeface has always been renowned for its inconsistencies between weights, which has made it a very versatile typeface with different characteristics between weights. This was due to them not being produced from a single design, like Helvetica. The typeface also stood out as it has a less mechanical feel then its opponents at the time due to being based on classic roman proportions.
The font was originally recommended for advertising and headlines, but also took off in use for body text as the public got used to reading san serif. Today, Gill Sans can be seen in use by many well-known companies such as; Tommy Hilfiger, Toy Story, Penguin Publishing and the BBC.
What i've learnt
My understanding of how text works on a page has greatly increased as I did not have much experience with using typography and placing text. I learnt a lot about the basic language of typography such as the meanings of san serif and serif texts. White space was brought up a lot during class and I tried to apply it in the setting of sense exercise which I believe was best used in the first 3 text placings. I also improved my illustrator skills during the creation of my monogram.
References
Gill, E., 1988. An Essay on Typography. David R. Godine Publisher.
History of Graphic Design. 2017. Helvetica. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.historygraphicdesign.com/the-age-of-information/the-international-typographic-style/736-helvetica. [Accessed 26 September 2017].
Skylar Challand. 2009. Know your type: Gill Sans. [ONLINE] Available at: http://idsgn.org/posts/know-your-type-gill-sans/. [Accessed 28 September 2017].
The Font Bureau, Inc. 2011. Neue Haas Grotesk. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.fontbureau.com/nhg/history/. [Accessed 27 September 2017].
History of Graphic Design. 2017. Helvetica. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.historygraphicdesign.com/the-age-of-information/the-international-typographic-style/736-helvetica. [Accessed 26 September 2017].
Skylar Challand. 2009. Know your type: Gill Sans. [ONLINE] Available at: http://idsgn.org/posts/know-your-type-gill-sans/. [Accessed 28 September 2017].
The Font Bureau, Inc. 2011. Neue Haas Grotesk. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.fontbureau.com/nhg/history/. [Accessed 27 September 2017].