How Helvetica Conquered The World With Its Cool, Comforting Logic | Co.Design
This is the second excerpt from Just My Type. To read the first, "The 8 Worst Fonts in the World," go here. What is it about the Swiss? Or, to be precise: what is it about the Swiss and their sans serif typefaces? Helvetica and Univers both emerged from Switzerland in the same year--1957--and went out to shape the modern world. They would sort out not just transport systems but whole cities, and no typefaces ever looked more sure of themselves or their purpose. Helvetica is a font of such practicality--and, its adherents would suggest, such beauty--that it is both ubiquitous and something of a cult. A few years ago, a New Yorker called Cyrus Highsmith put his life on the line by trying to spend a day without Helvetica. His troubles began as soon as he climbed out of bed. At lunch he thought he’d try Chinatown but had to switch restaurants as the first had a familiar-looking menu. After he undertook his non-Helvetica day, Highsmith posed himself a philosophical question.
Arial versus Helvetica. How to tell them apart. Is Arial just a poor copy?
Seconds Out, Round One Every typeface, like every one of us, has its distinguishing features. You might be forgiven for thinking that some fonts are clones, or identical twins. Today we’re going to de-robe two popular typefaces, namely Arial and Helvetica — faces that are often confused, and often the subjects of mistaken identity. HelveticaDesigned in 1957 by Max Miedinger, Helvetica’s design is based on that of Akzidenz Grotesk (1896), and classified as a Grotesque or Transitional san serif face. ArialDesigned in 1982 by Robin Nicholas and Patricia Saunders for Monotype (not Microsoft), it’s classified as Neo Grotesque, was originally called Sonoran San Serif, and was designed for IBM’s bitmap font laser printers. I’ve read in several places that Arial is closer in appearance to Univers than Helvetica. A number of the glyphs are almost identical, and even an expert would have difficulty telling them apart. What it’s wrong to do is criticize Arial as a clone or rip-off of Helvetica.
Monologue: I’m Comic Sans, Asshole.
[Originally published June 15, 2010.] Listen up. I know the shit you’ve been saying behind my back. You don’t like that your coworker used me on that note about stealing her yogurt from the break room fridge? People love me. When people need to kick back, have fun, and party, I will be there, unlike your pathetic fonts. It doesn’t even matter what you think. Enough of this bullshit. Available in our store:The “I’m Comic Sans, Asshole” Mug
The 8 Worst Fonts In The World | Co.Design
We’d need another book, of course, to do this justice. And where would one start? Fonts are like cars on the street--we notice only the most beautiful or ugly, the funniest or the flashiest. The vast majority roll on regardless. There may be many reasons why we dislike or distrust certain fonts, and overuse and misuse are only starting points. Fonts may trigger memory as pungently as perfume: Gill Sans can summon up exam papers. Most of the time we only notice typeface mistakes, or things before or behind their times. The Top Tens were: Used Regularly: Frutiger (23 respondents) Helvetica/Helvetica Neue (21) Futura (15) Gill Sans (13) Univers (11) Garamond (10) Bembo Franklin Gothic (8) 9. Highly Visible: Helvetica/Helvetica Neue (29) Meta (13) Gill Sans (9) Rotis (8) Arial (7) ITC Officina Sans (4) Futura (3) Bold Italic Techno; FF Info; Mrs Eaves; Swiss; TheSans; Times New Roman (2) Least Favorite: The Least Favorite survey contained brief explanations. #8: Ecofont One ought to approve.
30 Best Fonts, Downloadable Fonts, Free Fonts, Cool Fonts for Designers
Posted on 02'08 Mar Posted on March 2, 2008 along with 414 JUST™ Creative Comments – Here are 30 of the Best Fonts / Typefaces that every designer must / should own sorted by alphabetical order. There are 15 serif fonts and 15 sans-serif fonts. These fonts will last you your whole career! A brief description of what each font is best suited for is provided however are not limited to this. There are some top free cool fonts that are downloadable in this collection and some that come with your operating system… the others are not so free but they sure will help you improve your typography! You may also be interested in How To Choose A Font or the Top 5 Typography Resources of all time. What does serif mean? 1. Magazines, journals, text books, corporate communication. 2. Textbooks and magazines 3. Posters, packaging, textbooks. 4. Headlines, text, logos. 5. Dictionaries and headlines. 6. Tabular materials, technical documentation, word processing. 7. Newsletters, Reports, Proposals. 8. 9. 10. 11.
Serif
In typography, a serif /ˈsɛrɪf/ is a small line attached to the end of a stroke in a letter or symbol,[1] such as when handwriting is separated into distinct units for a typewriter or typesetter. A typeface with serifs is called a serif typeface (or serifed typeface). A typeface without serifs is called sans serif or sans-serif, from the French sans, meaning "without". Some typography sources refer to sans-serif typefaces as "Grotesque" (in German "grotesk") or "Gothic",[2] and serif typefaces as "Roman". Origins and etymology[edit] Serifs originated in the Latin alphabet with inscriptional lettering—words carved into stone in Roman antiquity. The origin of the word serif is obscure, but apparently almost as recent as the type style. In 1827, a Greek scholar, Julian Hibbert, printed with his own experimental uncial Greek types, remarking that the types of Bodoni's Callimachus were "ornamented (or rather disfigured) by additions of what I believe type-founders call syrifs or cerefs."
50 Stunning Typography Wallpapers For Inspiration
Mar 25 2010 By János Rácz Typography is said to be the backbone of web design, but it’s also considered art all by itself. To fully embrace its beauty we brought you some amazing wallpapers from the web about design, ideas, emotions, typefaces and typography itself. Typography love I love Typography by Chatan Vekariya Designers love Typography by tom2strobl I LOVE TYPO by dzn-citizen Typography I LOVE U by askdzigner A bit too much typography Tired Of Typo Wallpaper by BK1LL3R blah blah blah in black by lurino Helvetica wallpapers Helvetica, how I love thee by lauardelean Helvetica Wallpaper by Antonio Carusone Helvetica with Love by allonlim Helvetica Wallpaper by HawlendRion Wallpapers centered around a concept 115 words of LIFE by januscastrence .Words of love. wallpaper pack by streamline69 Typography Design by PEACE wallpaper by punkdbydaniels Typography with a message Save the Earth. I love Typography by Mo Lara Knights of Cydonia by ka-ge Typography Wallpaper by McFaiild I know you by 0leke Homepage
