Introducing Helvetica Now: A Reinvented Classic

Think there are enough versions of Helvetica? Well, think again, because here comes one more. Monotype has recently released Helvetica Now, the first redesign in 35 years of the world’s most ubiquitous font, specifically intended to improve its legibility for the digital age. Consisting of 48 fonts and three optical sizes, Helvetica Now was created to end the need for designers to manually adjust any weight or version. Whether it’s a smart watch, a high-res device, a laptop screen, e-ink, or 200-foot-tall digital prints, this expanded font family work dynamically across a range of applications flawlessly.

Legibility was at the heart of this major four-year redesign, requiring every letter, number, punctuation mark and symbol in the family – nearly 40,000 in all – to be painstakingly redrawn, analyzed, and tested for improved performance. The entire family has been created from size-specific drawings and with size-specific spacing. Every character has been redrawn and refitted, and a host of useful alternates have been added to help brands and other users meet modern-day branding challenges.

Why Now?

Helvetica has been used by countless brands and by creative professionals in millions of designs since its inception. This is because it embodies clean and versatile design. The Helvetica Now typeface continues the tradition established by the Helvetica and Neue Helvetica families, while introducing a number of improvements. Espousing the simplicity, clarity, timelessness, and global appeal of the typeface’s storied tradition, the Helvetica Now design is more sophisticated and graceful than its predecessors.

Adaptability is an essential characteristic for today’s designers. It has been mindfully redesigned to solve modern-day branding challenges and ease creative implementation without compromising on its origins, returning to its Swiss mantra of simplicity, clarity and neutrality. “Helvetica Now is the tummy-tuck, facelift and lip filler we’ve been wanting, but were too afraid to ask for,” said Abbott Miller, partner at Pentagram. “It offers beautifully drawn alternates to some of Helvetica’s most awkward moments, giving it a surprisingly, thrillingly contemporary character.”

Three Optical Sizes

The Helvetica Now typeface is available in three optical sizes – Micro, Display, and Text. Helvetica Now Micro solves the decades-old spacing and legibility shortcomings of single-master versions of the family at the smallest sizes (4- to 7-points). Micro offers more open counters, wider shapes, a larger x-height, open spacing, larger accents, optical adjustments to the shapes of complex forms, and a number of other changes to produce a highly legible font at very small sizes.

Helvetica Now Text is a true workhorse, and comes in a range of weights from Thin to Black with carefully combed spacing and kerning. Helvetica Now Text is easy and pleasing to read, and provides an ample palette for demanding, information-rich design environments.

Helvetica Now Display offers a range of weights from Hairline to Extra Black, with appropriate spacing, for 14-point settings and up. Big, bold, attention-grabbing Helvetica no longer requires the trimming of characters, manual adjustment of spacing and kerning, or the resizing and repositioning of punctuation necessary with the legacy versions.

The Helvetica Now complete family includes over 48 fonts.

Alternate Glyphs & Improved Legibility

Newly designed alternate glyphs have been added across the entire range of the family, including a single-story “a” and a straight-legged capital “R.” Every weight and optical size offers a host of new and useful glyphs, including a suite of Helvetica arrows. Every letter, number, punctuation mark and symbol in the family – nearly 40,000 in all – has been redrawn, analyzed and tested for improved legibility and performance. The result is a better reading experience, as the design’s improved forms and more even spacing mean clearer communication.

“Today, we’re asking Helvetica to do more than it ever has before. Previous versions of the typeface were not designed to be used in graphic applications that have developed over the last 30 years. As a result, older versions of the font were lacking in some important areas,” said Charles Nix, type director at Monotype. “Helvetica Now solves the legibility and style challenges that brands using Helvetica have consciously and unconsciously faced for years. The design introduces a new chapter in the Helvetica story – expanding its look and utility, while reinvigorating its heritage.”

To learn more about the Helvetica Now typeface, check out this informative video, narrated by Charles Nix:

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Ilene Strizver is a noted typographic educator, author, designer and founder of The Type Studio in Westport, Connecticut. Her book, Type Rules! The designer’s guide to professional typography, is now in its 4th edition.
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