Helvetica Font
One of the most used and popular fonts around the world is Helvetica. There are many members of this font family that add some interest to your write ups and website design. Let us learn more about the font in the following article.
History
In 1957, the font was first designed by Max Miedinger. The name is derived from word Helvetia, that is Latin for Switzerland. Initially it was called the Neue Haas Grotesk, and was changed to Helvetica in 1960 by the Hass' German parent company Stempel. The Stempel foundry added more weights to Helvetica and Merganthaer Linotype came up with newer versions.
Font Family
The design was based on grotesques of the late 19th century. There were some refinements made and it was put under the san serif sub-category of neo-grotesque. The following are some of the members of the family:
- Helvetica Light
- Helvetica Compressed
- Helvetica Textbook
- Helvetica Inserat
- Helvetica Rounded
- Helvetica Narrow
There are many websites from where you can download Helvetica. Many websites need you to purchase the font such as, trusted vendors like Adobe and Linotype. There are many websites that offer free downloads like Font Seek. Here, you will be offered four links that includes the general font, Bold, Condensed Stressed and Condensed Destressed. These sites are in Japanese, but most the browsers convert the language into English. Other websites that offer free fonts are Search Free Fonts, Font Space, My Fonts, etc.
In Microsoft word, the font is similar to the 'Arial' available in any Word product. Many professionals have a hard time differentiating between Helvetica and Arial and, the latter is a complete ripoff of the former. There are quite a few minor differences that one can observe after deep study. Coolvetica is very similar to Helvetica and you need to pay for it on My Fonts for downloading.
Use
It is very popular as it not only easy on the eyes, but it uses straight lines for alphabets and numbers. There are no flairs, embellishments that make the script look complicated. This font is scalable that means one can increase and decrease the font size. This change can be done without the look of the script turning distorted. It is compatible with most browsers, operating systems and word processors. There are different styles of Helvetica that can help you get creative with your webpage design. These fonts give a new look to the basic style without losing the touch of the original.
Fonts like Arial, Aristocrat, Corvus, Europa, Grotesk, Hamilton, Helio/II, Helvette, , Holsatia, Megaron/II, Nimbus Sans URW, Vega, Newton, Sonoran Sans Serif, Switzerland, Swiss 911 BT (Helvetica Compressed), Impact and Placard Bold, etc., are fonts that look like Helvetica.
