Helvetica vs Helvetica Neue – What Is The Difference?

Helvetica is a popular sans-serif font that is widely used online and in other forms of typography. While it’s been around since 1957, a new version emerged in 1983, called Helvetica Neue.

Helvetica and Helvetica Neue are similar. Helvetica Neue is simply a reworked and improved version of Helvetica, released a few decades later to adapt to the new printing technologies of the time; differences include widened numbers and longer crossbars.

In this article, we’ll be discussing the history of Helvetica and Helvetica Neue and the difference between the two fonts. If you’ve ever wondered about this topic, read on.

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Helvetica: A Brief History

Pbarnola, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Helvetica was first released in 1957 by a company called Linotype, but it was created by a Swiss designer called Max Miedinger. The font was supposed to be simple and easy to read, and it quickly became a popular typeface in designs following the International Typographic Style, also called the Swiss Style.

The Swiss Style is a systematic approach to graphic design, driven by Swiss designers, that influenced graphic design all around the world. It also influenced Univers, another large sans-serif typeface family, and later Helvetica.

In fact, Helvetica was named after Switzerland – a fun fact that many people don’t know. The Latin name for Switzerland is Helvetia, but they couldn’t use that because that brand name was already taken.

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Dancojocari, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

However, Helvetica became popular not only in Switzerland but around the world. Almost every computer today supports Helvetica, and you can use it in Google Docs and other word processing software (Helvetica Neue, at least – more on that later).

In the US, it mostly became popular in the mid 1980s. That was when Amsterdam Continental, a company that imported European typefaces, started promoting it instead of using Akzidenz-Grotesk, a previously popular font.

After that, Helvetica quickly caught on and outpaced Akzidenz-Grotesk in popularity.

Around that type, Linotype also licensed Helvetica to major companies such as Apple and Adobe. Nowadays, Monotype Imaging owns Helvetica.

You can find Helvetica used on road signs, government buildings, advertisements, posters, and a lot more! Even if you didn’t realize it, I’m sure you have seen it before – the following is a picture of a road sign using Helvetica.

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Scott5114, CC BY-SA 2.5, via Wikimedia Commons

Helvetica Neue: What Is It?

Helvetica Neue is an improved version of Helvetica, released in 1983. It is simply a reworking of the original Helvetica, and it was designed to improve the original font and make it easier to read.

Following is an example of Helvetica Neue.

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LeMagicUnicorn, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Remember, the original Helvetica typeface was released in 1957. Thus, it was restricted by the technological possibilities of that time.

The new design was meant to adapt Helvetica to the current age. For example, some letters, such as the M, were widened to make them easier to read; numbers were widened as well.

The lowercase t’s and f’s received wider crossbars, another feature designed to improve legibility.

Rounded letters and characters, such as lowercase e’s, received a softer rounding.

The new design also expanded the number of weights to 51, with the x-height adjusted to be the same across all weights.

All of the weights also got numbered to better identify them. Examples of what I mean by weights include different bold and italic styles, such as:

• 26 Ultra Light Italic
• 37 Thin Condensed Oblique
• 46 Light Italic
• 73 Bold Extended
• 96 Black Italic

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Vectorised by Froztbyte, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

The old system of Helvetica was more confusing, as there was no numbering system for the different weights available.

Not everyone was happy with the Helvetica Neue style, though.

Helvetica Now: What Is It? Helvetica Neue vs Helvetica Now

17jiangz1, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

I mentioned that Helvetica is now owned by Monotype. In 2019, Monotype released a new version of Helvetica called Helvetica Now.

Helvetica Now was designed to accommodate the ever-increasing demands for Helvetica in more varied applications and environments.

Remember what I said about Helvetica Neue being released to accommodate newer technology? Well, that was in the 1980s – well before the digital era.

Helvetica Neue wasn’t designed for the many uses we have today in digital media. That is what Monotype aimed to address with its new version of Helvetica, Helvetica Now.

With Helvetica Now, there are Micro, Text, and Display sizes, each size designed for a different environment. That is opposed to Hevetica Neue, which was designed for use in text type only.

For example, Helvetica Now’s Micro size was designed to accommodate smaller screen sizes, such as those on smartphones and tablets. With loose spacing and exaggerated designs, the text remains legible even on small screens such as smartwatches and even at low resolutions.

The Design size, meanwhile, is perfect for posters with big headlines.

There are other modifications and improvements as well, such as more rounded punctuation (punctuation is also something that was improved in the Helvetica Neue update). There is also an improved @ and a more rounded G – those are just some more examples.

In general, it is larger and more expressive than Helvetica Neue, and it was designed, in a way, to go back to the source – the original Helvetica font.

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What Is a Sans-Serif Font?

Via Wikimedia Commons

I mentioned that Helvetica is a sans-serif font. A sans-serif font is simply a type of font that doesn’t have trailing “feet” at the end of strokes – see the image above for examples.

The origin of the word sans-serif is not entirely known. Sans comes from French – it means without.

Serif, though, is a bit more unknown in origin, possibly coming from the Dutch word schreef, which means line.

PT Serif is a great example of a font that has those trailing serif strokes. It is perhaps more noticeable in the S – see the strokes on the upper and lower ends of the capital S?

You can also see it in the capital T – look at the two sides of the crossbar at the top of the T.

Times New Roman is another popular font that has serifs. You can see the serifs in the capital T or capital R, as well as other letters when you look closely.

Georgia is yet another example of a font that uses serifs. Take extra note of the capital G, for example.

Why does it matter which font you use? Fonts play a significant role in the hidden meaning of a text.

The type of font you use will depend on the context. For example, you might use a more flowery design when you are writing poetry; when you are writing a blog post, on the other hand, you’ll typically choose a simpler font that is easier to read.

Similarly, serif fonts usually make more sense when writing something formal. That might include newspapers, for example.

Online media tends to favor sans-serif fonts, as they are often easier to read. They make it easier to skim through an article and are generally favored by bloggers and online publishers.

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Other Types of Helvetica Fonts

Luisao10, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Helvetica, Helvetica Neue, and Helvetica Now are not the only Helvetica fonts out there. In this section, I will go over some other popular Helvetica typeface variations.

• Helvetica Inserat: Helvetica Inserat was designed for advertisements. It’s a bit narrower than the standard. Inserat means advertisement in German.
• Helvetica Narrow: This version was designed for printers with small ROM spaces. It compresses the width of Helvetica to 82% of the original width, but it can look somewhat distorted.
• Neue Helvetica eText: This version was released in 2011 by Monotype Imaging, and it’s designed for use in digital media. The capital letters are smaller and there is more spacing.
• Neue Helvetica World: This version of Helvetica Neue supports various language scripts, including Arabic, Thai, Armenian, Latin, and 181 languages in total.
• Helvetica Now Variable: This is a variable version of Helvetica Now, released in 2021, two years after the release of Helvetica Now. It has two styles – regular and italic – and three adjustable axes.

You might not have known this, but Arial, a popular font, was based on Helvetica. While Monotype originally created it, it licensed it to Microsoft, which touted it as an alternative to Helvetica and included it as one of the four main TrueType fonts in Windows 3.1.

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Where to Get Helvetica?

You can get Helvetica Neue in Google Docs. When choosing a font, click on “More Fonts” and search for Helvetica Neue, as it might not appear in the initial drop-down list of fonts.

You can also get Helvetica by installing Adobe. However, it is not available by default on Microsoft Word.

You can also get Helvetica on your Mac. In fact, Apple used to use Helvetica as its system font on Mac, but it later switched to Helvetica Neue and finally to San Francisco on both iOS and Mac.

San Francisco, developed by Apple, looks very similar to Helvetica and was indeed inspired by its design.

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Wrapping It Up

Helvetica is a popular typeface developed by Linotype. It’s simple and easily legible, and it’s often used in advertisements, brochures, posters, and online media.

There are a few different types of Helvetica styles. Helvetica Neue was developed for the new printing technologies of the 80s, with Helvetica Now released in 2019 for the digital age; however, all are very similar with only some variations.