Lauded by some as clean, modernist, easy on the eye and stylish, while slated by others as bland, uninspiring, conformist and unambitious, the list of Helvetica users would fill a book, many iconic names in the corporate world plump for the big H include Gap, Orange, Currys, Hoover, Lufthansa, Panasonic, Royal Bank of Scotland, Tupperware, Zanussi.
The font, inspired by the 1896 font Akzidenz Grotesk, was designed in 1957 by Max Miedinger and Eduard Hoffman for the Swiss-based Haas Type Foundry, and is currently owned by Linotype. The digital revolution saw a host a clones spun off from the original, the most popular of which is Arial.
Helvetica success is much the same as Switzerland's – it works, it won't grab attention, you won't lose your job using this one. Fans say its dependability allows other elements in designs to express greater freedom. Opponents, of which there are many, including an 'I hate Helvetica web site' (Ed: don't these people have anything better to do?) claim it stifles creativity.
The typeface's dominance over the past half-century, cemented by the release of Neue Helvetica in the 1980s, has now inspired a documentary, Helvetica, and exhibitions in the US and Europe.
