From Helvetica To Haas Unica

Posted on May 7, 2008May 7, 2008 Posted in TypographyTagged fonts, haas unica, helvetica, publications, typeface, Typography7 Comments

Here’s a wonderful Flickr set of a promotional publication called From Helvetica To Haas Unica by Team’77 that takes you through the development process of Haas Unica. The publication analyzes the Helvetica forms and illustrates the difference between it and Haas Unica. What’s interesting is that Unica was created as an improvement over the the grotesk faces of the time, especially Helvetica. As much as I like Unica, I’m not sure how much of an improvement it is over Helvetica. Much of what makes Helvetica so unique and beautiful is removed from Haas Unica. Nonetheless it’s an excellent read.

I must have a copy! In the meantime you can download a PDF of the publication.

There is an ugly legal battle between Linotype and Scangraphic over the ownership of typeface. Until it’s cleared up, Haas Unica is not commercially available. Fortunately for me, after years of working in the “biz”, I’ve obtained a copy of the font. But since I’ve never purchased it, I don’t ever use it for any work which is unfortunate. I just load it up in my favorite font manager, set some type in Haas Unica and admire it’s beauty. What a shame.

Richard wrote in to let me know of another Flickr set showing the use of Haas Unica in Berlin’s Olympic stadium.

Brauer Neue

Posted on April 17, 2008April 17, 2008 Posted in TypographyTagged brockmann, fonts, helvetica, Miedinger, typeface, Typography, zurich4 Comments

Brauer Neue is a beautiful typefaced designed by the talented Swiss studio Elektrosmog. Brauer was originally designed by Pierre Miedinger (a nephew of Helvetica designer, Max Miedinger) for a Zurich based brewery called Brauerei Hürlimann. Below are two posters designed by Josef Müller-Brockmann in 1978 that feature the original typeface designed by Miedinger. Elektrosmog took this lost typeface and extended it into a full character set which includes Regular, Bold and Black weights.

You can purchase Brauer Neue from Lineto.

Thinkdust Updates

Posted on April 1, 2008April 1, 2008 Posted in Design, TypographyTagged fonts, graphic design, Typography1 Comment

Alex wrote it to give a heads-up that he’s updated his site Thinkdust with some new work. I’m loving this typeface he created.

Helvetica Serif

Posted on April 1, 2008April 1, 2008 Posted in Design, TypographyTagged fonts, graphic design, helvetica, Typography5 Comments

FontFont have announced that they are to release Helvetica Serif, following the discovery of drawings of the typeface by Max Miedinger. The sketches which were discovered by Miedinger’s granddaughter have been redrawn to create the digital version shown above.

The font has been released today, April 1st.

Typefaces Of 2007

Posted on March 7, 2008March 7, 2008 Posted in TypographyTagged fonts, showcase, typeface, typographica, Typography2 Comments

Typographica published it’s fourth annual review showcasing the best in new typeface design.

Here are my favorites.

Graphik by Christian Schwartz

National by Kris Sowersby

Purista by Tomas Brousil

Leitura by Dino dos Santos

Social Gothic

Posted on March 4, 2008March 4, 2008 Posted in TypographyTagged canada type, fonts, futura, helvetica, type, typeface, Typography, univers2 Comments

I only use handful of typefaces, mainly classics like Helvetica, Univers, Akzidenz Grotesk, Avant Garde and Futura, and I’m not a firm believer of using multiple typefaces in a design. So it’s rare when I find a modern typeface that gets my design juices flowing, and today I’ve found two.

Social Gothic is a new typeface by Canada Type that has the characteristics of some of these classic typefaces but with a more modern feel to it. I like it. Social Gothic is a unicase font that contains an expanded character set as well as a few alternates. You can purchase a copy at You Work For Them.