Max Miedinger

Online Sources
http://fontfeed.com/archives/helvetica-and-alternatives-to-helvetica/
http://www.helveticafilm.com/about.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helvetica
http://www.rvreeland.net/design/helvetica/project2/theman.html
http://www.linotype.com/522/maxmiedinger.html
http://www.answers.com/topic/helvetica-1

Print Sources
Helvetica: Homage to a typeface, Lars Muller
How Magazine, "Beyond Helvetica", Stephen Coles

Quotes...
"Helvetica is the jeans, and Univers the dinner jacket. Helvetica is here to stay."- Adrian Frutiger

"Helvetica is essentially good at functional tasks like road signs, way finding signs around buildings, directions and information," -Richard Ford "This is where those typefaces really score because they're easy to read, easy to use, and be can read at a great distance." -Richard Ford

Max Miedinger: The World's Typographer
Max Miedinger, above all else, was an innovative Swiss designer with work in typography that has and will outlive him. Miedinger was born in Zurich on the 24 of December 1910 and died on the eighth day of March 1980 in the same city as his birth.

Brief Overview
He began his career in visual design at the age of 16 as an apprentice typesetter for Jacques Bollman, a Swiss book printer. From 1926 to 1930 Miedinger trained as a typographer in Zurich and attended night classes at Kunstgewerbeschule in Zurich. From 1936 to 46 Miedinger was a typographer for Globus department store’s advertising studio in Zurich. From 1947 to 56 he was a customer counselor and typeface sales representative for the Haas’sche Schriftgießerei in Münchenstein. After 1956 he was a freelance graphic artist in Zurich with a fair amount of success. In 1957 Miedinger was prompted by Edouard Hoffman from the Swiss type Type Foundry Hass to a new font to represent the company in all their advertisements. Under Edouard Hoffman’s Miedinger made the Haas Grotesk typeface that would later be renamed Helvetica.

Later Career (Helvetica and its Development)
Helvetica is a Latin word meaning Switzerland that was used to employ a more "global" appeal and professional name. After developing the famous font Helvetica, Miedinger continued his freelance career as I stated. No work after Helvetica either by Miedinger or another estranged typographer up until the present has had a greater influence on mass media and been as legible to be used in posters and body text. Though Miedinger never really ventured from Zurich to live, he seemed to gather a strong understanding of international appeal and style. Max Miedinger lived a modest life in Zurich and never received worldwide acclaim like other typographers. He often is not thought of when Helvetica is brought up, and is more often than not put in a light that is not famous or important. Especially during his life Miedinger was not famous or reverred because of his design qualities. He was respected, but never able to gain popularity from Helvetica like the typeface gained for itself.

In 1957 Miedinger was asked by Edouard Hoffman from the Swiss type Type Foundry Hass to make a new typeface that would be used by the company in all their advertisements and visually printed brochures and such. Under Hoffman’s supervision Miedinger created a type called Haas Grotesk typeface, later called Helvetica because it means “Switzerland” in Latin. Miedinger worked alone after his association with the Haas Type Foundry, but none of his work was ever as important or widely accepted by his typeface called Helvetica. Helvetica was the most used Sans Serif typeface throughout the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s. It was used in areas and designs such as Tokyo, Moscow, and New York subways and transit departments. It was also used in by Toyota car company exclusively. They bought the rights to use it in making an international identity for the company and its partners. The trend might have continued into the 1990s if the computer did not start to take precedence.

Helvetica and Max
Helvetica is a sans serif meaning it has no extra adornment at the ends of letters. Sans is a French word meaning "without". Though Miedinger created many versions of Helvetica with varying weights he also created a font called Miedinger in his later years. Along with Miedinger, he also created Swiss 921, Monospace 821, and Swiss 721. Helvetica in fact is not the only font he created, but it is his lasting trademark and only font really associated with his name if any text does this.

Applications
Helvetica is well known for its clean legible apperance and strong verical or horizontal lines. It is one of the most popular types the world has ever known. Designed in 1957 for the Haas foundry of Switzerland. Helvetica is based on grotesques of the late nineteenth century like “Akzidenz” that was made in the late 1800s by foundries like Berthold Type foundry in Germany. The font was made because Akzidenz Grotesk was growing outdated and something needed to take its place as the sans serif font of its time. In 1961 Helvetica's original name Neue Haas Grotesk was switched to the name Helvetica by Stempel, a side company of Haas. After purchasing and changing Helvetica's name, Stempel foundry made a full series of weights. In the 1960s Helvetica came to the United States, where alignment standards differed. Mergenthaler Linotype copied the Stempel and added many new versions of the font. Helvetica is a universal type design that can give any message clearly and efficiently.The condensed designs are perfect for newspapers or newsletter headlines, billboards, and advertising. Helvetica Rounded made in 1980, the year of Max Miedinger's death, is the same as the original Helvetica typefaces but has different stroke endings, which are rounded instead of squared off. The overall effect is more fun and less business like than traditional Helvetica.

One of the reasons Helvetica is so widely used is its modern look. Sans serifs appear modern, ditching serifs for more geometric shapes that classify this new type field. Helvetica is often cool and docile. It is not very ornate, and uses line expertly to communicate content without distraction. It is very clear and subtle without instrinsic meaning. Some experts refer to Helvetica as a neo-grotesque font, but it is more easily classified as a grotesque font. Grotesque fonts were coined in this term because they were "unsightly" compared to original serif fonts. Created in 1957, it has kept a modern feel surrounding it, and this modern appeal has warranted many companies to use it as their personal type style. Just a few of the companies worldwide who employ Helvetica are Conair, Dole, digital, Bell South, Eagle, Amtrak, Bayer, intel, Jockey, Kappa, and Nestle. Most typographers agree that serifed fonts are easier to pick up on and use in body texts, such as newspapers or books, but Helvetica is an exception to the rule. It has such strong lines that are crisp enough to make it a possible body text font even though it is expertly used in many titles. One of the reasons this font is used so often in logo design is its uncanny nature to be very legible and convey strength while not distracting from an actual logo or the purpose for the mark. This is one of the reasons the United States government uses it for their postal service. A font that perhaps uses cursive is only applicable in certain instances; whereas, Helvetica can be read and enjoyed in any circumstance because of its simplistic design. Companies that want to reach the masses look for a font that conveys without distracting.

Importance
One has to think about the gravity of a font that has changed how the world sees. Helvetica has been used in documents, papers, commercials, and every other type of media we as people see. Possibly Miedinger knew the extent of his impact before he died in 1980, but probably not during the type's creation and probably not now. Brought on by the Swiss design movement in the 1950s and 1960s and acquisition of the Haas Type Foundry by America in the form of the Adobe font book, Helvetica has been enormously popular during the last half century. Helvetica was the most used Sans Serif typeface throughout the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s and probably would have been the most popular font still if Microsoft had not come along. The release of the Windows 3.1 operating system pushed Microsoft to use a font technology that supported their software. Unfortunately, Adobe held tightly onto their Postscript Type 1 format and would not make a deal with Microsoft. Microsoft instead signed an agreement with Apple to share a new system called the TrueType format. Adobe tried to get back into the computer business by then releasing their fonts, but Microsoft never looked back. While all this is going on, replica or “clone” fonts were being created in the essence of Adobe fonts in order to compete with them. One example is Arial who competes iwth Helvetica in same weight and dimensions. In the end, Microsoft chose to go with Arial as their default font over Helvetica. Arial has been used with every big Microsoft operating system release since. This is why Arial has been the most popular font for the last fifteen years.

Criticism and Conclusion
Though Helvetica is very popular it does receive a lot of criticism as of late. People are upset that the font is overused and dominates the type industry. One designer, Stephen Banham of Melbourne, Australia believes that Helvetica is an “easy, lazy way to look cool”. He feels that no matter what industry the font is being used in, it always gives a “corporate feel” when perhaps it should not. Other people think that the font is so overused it is almost cancelling out its appeal in the first place. It is a well designed font, but it is said to make things that are not business oriented into associations that take on a corporate appeal. Put into context, Helvetica is very powerful and employs a well crafted arsenal of design. It is concise and delivers messages well. I believe the criticism it is now receiving is in part because it is so well designed and looks good. The only reason it has dominated the type field is because of its strong design in the first place. To conclude, a storied Swiss man created a font that would later be changed to Helvetica and affect the world of design/type long past his death in 1980.

In the World at 1957......
While Max Miedinger was creating Helvetica for Type Foundry Haas, the world of cinema was changing drastically. A future civil rights activist director and influence on the 21 century world of cinema was born. That man was Spike Lee. With the induction of Spike Lee to the world, another famous man in cinema was on his way out. Actor Humphrey Bogart died on January 14. Last but not least, Disney released the fourth highest grossing film for 1957 with their classic Old Yeller. In summation, the world of film was experiencing some monumental events while Miedinger was in Switzerland sitting at a desk creating Helvetica.