The Cultural Impact of Helvetica, Futura, and Verdana

Typefaces are more than just letters on a page, they also carry cultural impact and intention. Helvetica, Futura, and Verdana are three iconic typefaces that have left a mark on design and communication.

Helvetica, created in Switzerland in 1957, was designed by Max Miedinger and Eduard Hoffmann (Loxley 187). It began as Neue Haas Grotesk, and was renamed Helvetica, derived from “Helvetia,” the Latin name for Switzerland (Garfield 129). Though it was intended to be a clean and useful typeface (Garfield 130), it has become much more. Helvetica is ubiquitous and even inspired Gary Hustwit’s film, Helvetica (Garfield 127). It has been used for everything from the New York subway system (Garfield 123) to clothing brands (Garfield 127) to advertising for large brands like Apple (“Chapter 6: Helvetica”). Though the typeface is neutral, it gives a sense of honesty and trustworthiness. It is practical and versatile.

(Garfield 125)

Futura made its first appearance in 1925 Germany and was designed by Paul Renner (Loxley 154). Renner, who was not a typeface designer at the time, was set on creating a typeface using geometric forms and removing any hand-drawn qualities (Loxley 157). After perfecting it, he presented it with the phrase “Die schrift unserer Zeit” which means “the font of our time” (Garfield 289). Futura is still used by brands such as Volkswagen (Garfield 195) and is most famously utilized in the inscription on the plaque left by the Apollo 11 astronauts (Garfield 195). It truly is timeless.

(Garfield 195)

Verdana was created by Matthew Carter in 1996 for Microsoft (Eskilson 419) and represents the crossover of design and digital technology. It was created specifically for on-screen legibility, addressing the challenges of early digital displays (“Chapter 5: Verdana”). It uses wide apertures and a large x-height to maintain readability in many digital environments (Eskilson 420), making it widely used on websites and other digital applications. While Verdana was created for readability on the web, some would argue that it is devoid of character and emotion. In August 2009, the Swiss furniture brand IKEA decided to use Verdana for its web and print design and moved away from using Futura (Garfield 193). This caused quite a controversy, with both type enthusiasts and even average people claiming the new catalogs looked “dull and corporate” (Garfield 193).

(Garfield 75)

Together, Helvetica, Futura, and Verdana demonstrate how typefaces can have a cultural impact. From Helvetica’s ubiquity to Futura’s timelessness and Verdana’s digital functionality, each typeface reflects the aspirations of its era.

Works Cited:

“Chapter 5: Verdana.” Designerly, 11 Sep. 2023, designerly.com/verdana/.

“Chapter 6: Helvetica.” Designerly, 12 Sep. 2023, designerly.com/helvetica/.

Eskilson, Stephen. Graphic Design: A New History Third Edition. Yale University Press, 2019, pp. 223-224, 272-273, 419-420

Garfield, Simon. Just My Type. Gotham Books, 2011, pp. 73-76, 126-134, 193-195

Loxley, Simon. Type is Beautiful: The Story of Fifty Remarkable Fonts. Bodleian Library, 2016, p. 154-158, 187-191