Museum of Contemporary Typography presents the work of
Max Miedinger C R E AT O R O F H E LV E T I C A
Museum of Contemporary Typography
TABLE OF CONTENTS
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INTRO
Max Miedinger
WORK EXAMPLES
Helvetica Swiss Style Music Posters Modern Brands Using Helvetica
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TYPOGRAPHICAL INTRODUCTION
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ABOUT THE MUSEUM
Terminology Explained History of Typography Timeline
Museum of Contemporary Typography
Intro: Max Miedinger, the creator of the famous Swiss typeface designer. He is at wok at the Haas Type foundry (left)
MAX MIEDINGER
M
ax Miedinger was a Swiss typeface designer. He was famous for creating the Neue Haas Grotesk typeface in 1957 which was renamed Helvetica in 1960. Marketed as a symbol of cutting-edge Swiss technology, Helvetica went global at once.
Samples of fontype foundry blocks bearing Helvetica glyphs (right)
(in Zürich). After four years as an apprentice, Miedinger enrolled in the School of Arts and Crafts. When he was 26 years old, he went to work for an advertising studio called Globe. Here he worked as a typographer and improved his skills.
Between 1926 and 1930 Miedinger trained as a typesetter in Zürich, after which he attended evening classes at the Kunstgewerbeschule in Zürich.
After ten years of working at Globe, Miedinger then gained employment with Haas Type Foundry as a representative. This is where he made his mark on history and designed the most used typeface of the 20th century, Helvetica.
At the age of sixteen Max became an apprentice typesetter at a book printing office for Jacques Bollmann
In 1956, Miedinger became a freelance graphic designer and about a year later he collaborated with Edouard
Hoffman on the typeface which would later be called Helvetica. Four years after its birth, Helvetica was given an oblique brother. More weights were added later, but they were made by different designers in diverse foundries, but these lacked consistency, and Helvetica became a hodge podge of different fonts.
Linotype has since redrawn every style and weight of the font to make a consistent family of typefaces. Differences in alignment were corrected, subtle features were made consistent from one face to another, and all the weights and widths were designed to work together as one family.
This new family is called Neue Helvetica, and is available from, among others, Adobe.
Today, Helvetica is shunned by many designers because it is overused due to its being the default typeface on many desktop publishing software packages. But, remember, it is the default face because it is such a reliable, workhorse of a typeface. Together with Times New Roman, Helvetica was the most specified face of the ’60s, ’70s and ’80s. Helvetica is not only the preferred typeface of leading professionals, it is also an all-time favourite among the multitude of codes, signals
and signs that flavour urban life.
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THE MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY TYPOGRAPHY
HELVETICA
MODERN BRANDS USING HELVETICA
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THE MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY TYPOGRAPHY
A TYPOGRAPHICAL INTRODUCTION
T
ype is everywhere – street signs, magazines, the web. Every typeface you see around you has been painstakingly and carefully planned out, and each has its own personality and vibe. But have you ever stopped to wonder how the typefaces we encounter everyday came to be? Who invented them, and why? If you’re interested in learning more about typography, you’ve come to the right place.
TERMINOLOGY EXPLAINED
W
hat’s the difference between a typeface and a font? Before you jump in, let’s clarify the terminology used. Typography is the art of creating the letters we use everyday. It’s designing them and creating them and making them real. A font is a collection or set of letters – they’re the mechanism you use to get your message across to your reader. Every letter and dash and semi colon would be considered part of a specific font. A typeface is the design you see – the style and look of a specific font. Throughout history, typefaces have been influenced by technological advances, culture shifts, and just general boredom with the state of typography. Here’s how it all went down:
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THE MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY TYPOGRAPHY
Guttenberg invented movable typefaces, giving the world a cheaper way to obtain the written word. Up until this point, all written materials were done by hand, and were very costly to purchase. Guttenburg also created the first typeface, blackletter – it was dark, fairly practical, and intense, but not very legible.
B
Baskerville
Italics
Italics begin to be used as way to fit more words onto a page, saving the printer money. Today, we use italics as a design detail or for emphasis when writing.
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Egyptian
John Baskerville created what we now call Transitional type, a Romanstyle type, with very sharp serifs and lots of drastic contrast between thick and thin lines.
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Goudy
Vincent Figgins created Egyptian, or Slab Serif – the first time a typeface had serifs that were squares or boxes.
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Frederic Goudy became the world’s first full time type designer, developing numerous groundbreaking typefaces, such as Copperplate Gothic, Kennerly, and Goudy Old Style.
1815
1920
Gotham Gotham is a family of geometric sansserif typefaces designed by American type designer Tobias Frere-Jones & Jesse Ragan in 2000. Gotham’s letterforms are inspired by a form of architectural signage that achieved popularity in the mid-twentieth century.
contemporary
A TYPOGRAPHICAL TIMELINE 1470
Nicolas Jenson created Roman Type, inspired by the text on ancient roman buildings. It was far more readable than blackletter, and caught on quickly.
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C
Caslon
William Caslon created a typeface which features straighter serifs and much more obvious contrasts between thin and bold strokes. Today, we call this type style ‘old style’.
1780
1816
D
Grotesque
Didot
Firmin Didot and Giambattista Bodoni created the first ‘modern’ Roman typefaces (Didot, and Bodoni). The contrasts were more extreme than ever before, and created a very cool, fresh look.
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William Caslon IV created the first typeface without any serifs at all. It was widely rebuked at the time. This was the start of what we now consider Sans Serif typefaces. During this time, type exploded, and many, many variations were being created to accommodate advertising.
THE MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY TYPOGRAPHY
Helvetica
Max Miedinger became famous for creating the Neue Haas Grotest typeface in 1957 which was renamed Helvetica in 1960. Marketed as a symbol of cutting-edge technology, Helvetica went global at once.
ABOUT THE MUSEUM
T
he Museum of Contemporary Typography is a contemporary art museum founded by philanthropists Eli and Edythe Broad on Grand Avenue in downtown Los Angeles. Designed by Diller Scofidio + Renfro in collaboration with Gensler, the museum offers free general admission and presents an active program of rotating temporary exhibitions and innovative audience engagement. The Museum of Contemporary Typography is home to more than 2,000 works of art in The Museum of Contemporary Typography’s collection, which is one of the world’s most prominent collections of postwar and contemporary art. The 120,000-square-foot building features two floors of gallery space and is the headquarters of The Museum of Contemporary Typography Art Foundation’s worldwide lending library, which has been loaning collection works to museums around the world since 1984. Since opening in September 2015, The Museum of Contemporary Typography has welcomed more than 2.5 million visitors. Generous support is provided by Leading Partner East West Bank.
colophon about this brochure
american typewriter Arial
Arial Black Avenir
Baskerville bodoni72
DIDOT
G E O R G I A
H E LV E T I C A Superclarendon
Museum of Contemporary Typography
21 S Grand Ave, Los Angeles CA 90012 www.museumofcontemporarytypography.com
Museum of Contemporary Typography