In the late 70s, Haas Type Foundry commissioned Team?’77 to create a new sans-serif that combined the great qualities of Helvetica, Univers and Akzidenz Grotesk. They came up with Unica, which was released in 1980.
Working from prints of Helvetica, Univers and Akzidenz Grotesk, the trio identified, compared and evaluated the finest of details, creating a new-generation sans-serif that eliminated the imperfections of its predecessors. “Unica was designed to be different,” said André Gürtler; “sharper than Helvetica, warmer than Univers, cleaner than Akzidenz.”
Because of legal disputes, Unica has never been available as a digital typeface. Now it is.
Monotype has just released Neue Haas Unica, a full digital set designed by Toshi Omagari. It is also available as a webfont.
Great to see classic typefaces getting a fresh new life in the digital age.