Blog Vecindad Gráfica Diseño Gráfico

In 1957, when Helvetica was introduced, the public took no notice. The type was based on an earlier design. Max Miedinger, a freelance designer who had been an employee of the Haas Type Foundry in Munchenstein, Switzerland, was commissioned to redesign a typeface called Haas Grotesk. It was already a stripped-down sans-serif font. (You might think of sans-serif typefaces as skeletons of letterforms, without flesh or clothing.)

Miedinger’s redesign was first named Neue Haas Grotesk, not Helvetica. That name was attached in 1960, when the companies Stempel and Linotype of Frankfurt, Germany, took over the design and wanted a moniker that would have international appeal. Helvetica refers to Helvetia, the Latin name for Switzerland.

Helvetica’s message is this: you are going to get to your destination on time; your plane will not crash; your money is safe in our vault; we will not break the package; the paperwork has been filled in; everything is going to be OK.