word neue haas grotesk text pro vs helvetica

In addition, there is variation between weights: Karl Gerstner notes that even comparing one size (20pt), the medium and bold weights have different x-height, cap height and descender length to the light and regular weights. The metal type of Akzidenz-Grotesk shows variation between sizes, with adaptation of letter-spacing and proportions such as looser spacing at smaller text sizes, something that was normal practice in the design and engraving of metal type. Walter Tracy describes this style of 'g' as a common feature in German sans-serifs of the period and apparently influenced by the tradition of blackletter, still very popular for printing extended texts in Germany in the late nineteenth century, which uses a single-storey 'g' in upright composition. The 'g' of Akzidenz-Grotesk is a 'single-storey' design, like in many other German sans-serifs, but unlike the double-storey 'g' found in most serif faces and in many of the earliest sans-serifs that had a lower-case sans-serif types first appeared in London, but became popular in Germany from the mid-nineteenth century onwards.

The capitals of Akzidenz-Grotesk are wide and relatively uniform in width. This is most visible in the quite folded-up apertures of letters such as ‘a’ and ‘c’. Modern type designer Martin Majoor has described the general design of Akzidenz-Grotesk and its ancestors as similar in letterforms to the Didone serif fonts that were standard printing types in the nineteenth century, such as Didot, Walbaum and their followers. This gives a sense of simplicity and an absence of the adornment and flourishes seen in the more decorative sans-serifs of the late nineteenth century influenced by the Art Nouveau style. Like most sans-serifs, Akzidenz-Grotesk is 'monoline' in structure, with all strokes of the letter of similar width. Design characteristics ĭigital variants of Akzidenz-Grotesk, showing the slight inconsistencies and idiosyncrasies between different weights and widths The name may have reflected the 'primitive' feel of sans-serifs, or their roots in archaic Greek and Roman inscriptions, and by the late nineteenth century was commonly used to mean 'sans-serif', without negative implication. It was introduced by the London type-founder William Thorowgood as the name for sans-serifs in the specimen books of his Fann Street Foundry around 1830. Grotesque (German: Grotesk) was a standard term that had become popular in the first half of the nineteenth century for sans-serifs. The origin of the word is Latin accidentia, defined by Lewis and Short as 'that which happens, a casual event, a chance'. A modern German-language dictionary describes it as work such as advertisements and forms. Both words were everyday, descriptive terms for typefaces of the time in the German language.Īkzidenz means some occasion or event (in the sense of 'something that happens', not in the sense of a high-class social event or occasion) and was therefore used as a term for trade printing Akzidenzschrift was by the 1870s a generic term meaning typefaces intended for these uses. It has sometimes been sold as Standard or Basic Commercial in English-speaking countries, and a variety of digital versions have been released by Berthold and other companies.Īkzidenz-Grotesk is often translated into English as 'jobbing sans-serif', 'jobbing' in the sense of 'used for jobs'.

Its simple, neutral design has also influenced many later typefaces. Relatively little-known for a half-century after its introduction, it achieved iconic status in the post-war period as the preferred typeface of many Swiss graphic designers in what became called the 'International' or 'Swiss' design style which became popular across the Western world in the 1950s and 1960s. Originating during the late nineteenth century, Akzidenz-Grotesk belongs to a tradition of general-purpose, unadorned sans-serif types that had become dominant in German printing during the nineteenth century. 'Akzidenz' indicates its intended use as a typeface for commercial print runs such as publicity, tickets and forms, as opposed to fine printing, and 'grotesque' was a standard name for sans-serif typefaces at the time. Sans-serif typeface family by the Berthold Type Foundry of BerlinĪkzidenz-Grotesk is a sans-serif typeface family originally released by the Berthold Type Foundry of Berlin.

Word neue haas grotesk text pro vs helvetica