Type Fundamentals Deborah

WHO IS… MAX MIEDINGER?

• Born
in Zurich, Switzerland
on the 24th of December 1910
• Died
8 March 1980
in Zurich, Switzerland

• Max Miedinger was most famous for

creating…

HELVETICA
originally known as Neue Haas Grotesk
WHERE IT ALL BEGAN…

Education

1926 – 1930 at 16 years old

He trained as an apprentice typesetter in the book printing office

of Jacques Bollmann in Zurich.

1930

Entered the School of Arts and Crafts, Abendkurse in Zurich.

 AND THE HARD WORK BEGINS
1936 at the age of 26
He became a Typographer in the advertising studio of the
Globus department store chain.

1946 He became a representative for the haas’sche schriflgießerei

(Haas Type Foundry) in Basel, Switzerland.

1956 He became a freelance Graphic Artist in Zurich

1957 Miedinger made his mark in graphic arts history

1957 NEUE HAAS GROTESK WAS BORN

Later renamed HELVETICA

• Edouard Hoffman, director of the Haas Type

Foundry, commissioned Miedinger to develop a new sans-
serif typeface.

• Miedinger revised a typeface called Akzidenze Grotesk – a

san serif font designed by H. Berthold in 1896.
HELVETICA V AKZIDENZ GROTESK
 HELVETICA V AKZIDENZ GROTESK
UP CLOSE & PERSONAL

e, c & g The top of the bowl n, m & h

Have parallel finals curves to meet the stem The shoulder narrows
 HISTORY OF THIS SAN SERIF TYPEACE
• 1800s An anonymous designer makes a type without serifs and it is
called “grotesk.”

• Grotesk was copied and designers in the late 19th century began
using these big, bold typefaces for display type.

• Akzidenz Grotesk (1896), One of the first with lowercase letters, and
was more delicate and readable. With four different weights.

• 1956 Edouard Hoffmann (Haas Type Foundry), decided that the

more natural typeface, Akzidenz Grotesk, needed to be reworked for
a new century.
Max Miedinger drew this new typeface and it was released in 1957 as
Neue Haas Grotesk.
 HELVETICA

The name
was changed
in 1961 to
Helvetica

Helvetica is a very legible Typeface, which is rounded, with a large x-height,

short ascenders and descender.
HELVETICA FONT FAMILY
HELVETICA WENT GLOBAL

Design should be an objective communication

of ideas and not an artistic expression

It was marketed to reflect cutting edge Swiss technology.

Companies and designers all over the world viewed Helvetica

as the font that reflected the industrial times.
HELVETICA IS…

• Neutral
• Clean
• Legible
• Versatile
• It’s open to interpretation in any context
IT BECAME COMMONLY USED IN

• Corporate Logos

• Advertising

• Print

• Public Signs
CORPORATE LOGOS
ADVERTISING & PRINT
PUBLIC SIGNS
HELVETICA WAS A CRUCIAL
PROGRESSION
IN TYPEFACE DESIGN
PRESENTING AN IDEALISED
EXPRESSION OF MODERNISM
FONTS DESIGNED BY MAX MIEDINGER
• Helvetica (Neue Haas Grotesk)
• Pro Arte
• Horisontal
• Swiss 921
• Swiss 721
• Monospace 821
• Miedinger
YOUTUBE VIDEO

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wkoX0pEwSCw&ob=av3e

Title: Helvetica Trailer

… what did Helvetica tell you today?