Max Miedinger

Typotheque describes Neue Haas Grotesk as Miedinger’s second typeface design and characterizes it as a major success; it also describes Helvetica as exceptionally widely used and recognized.² The typeface emerged amid Swiss designers’ interest in modernist forms as typesetting technology advanced; Adrian Frutiger’s sans-serif Univers had appeared in 1956, a year before Neue Haas Grotesk.¹ The working drawings for the typeface include pencil adjustments by Hoffman.¹

A review of Paul Shaw’s book on Helvetica and the New York City subway system says that its adoption as the subway’s official typeface took nineteen years; the review also notes that Unimark received a 1966 contract to study subway signage as part of the process.³ The Guardian used Helvetica for 17 years, retiring it in 2005.¹ Gary Hustwit directed a documentary about Helvetica and its design history; at the film’s Zurich premiere, the audience sang “happy birthday” to the typeface.¹