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Neue Haas Grotesk (2011)
- samvher 6y agoThe documentary "Helvetica" is worth watching if you're into typography: https://documentaryheaven.com/helvetica/ https://documentaryheaven.com/helvetica/
- josefrichter 6y agoNeue Haas Grotesk has been around for at least a decade - why now on HN?
- philipps 6y agoI was wondering the same. I am familiar with it because we use NHG as our company font, but didn’t know that it was widely known.
- rangibaby 6y ago10 years isn’t that long, I’m sure it’s still new to a lot of people
- lemonberry 6y agoAccording to the history on the website it's been around since the '50s. I came across it for the first time earlier this year and used it on a project. I really like it, but lack the vocabulary to explain why.
- jolux 6y agoIt’s a re-tracing of the original Helvetica plates. That effort itself is very recent, so as far as digital type goes, it’s very new.
- crazygringo 6y agoYes, can this have a (2011) added to the title? (That's the copyright on the footer of the page, anyways.) I thought this was some new announcement at first glance.
- dang 6y agoOk, added. Thanks.
- renewiltord 6y agoI read recently on Wikipedia (so you know this is good legal advice) that typefaces are not copyrightable. Is there an open version of this?
- aarchi 6y agoWhile the letterforms themselves are not copyrightable, as I understand it, the digital representation is copyrightable. This digitation of Neue Haas Grotesk would then be under copyright. Retracing Neue Haas Grotesk to create a free alternative would be a monumental undertaking, especially at such high quality. It took Christian Schwartz 6 years to digitize Neue Haas Grotesk. Typography is a lot of work. Support the type designers and pay for their work.
- ponker 6y agoCouldn’t you have a program to print the font to a big PDF and then re-ingest it?
- aarchi 6y agoPDF files embed the vectors outlines for the letters used in the text and it's trivial to extract those into a font file. However, as the mathematical representation of the typeface is under copyright, this conversion does not make it free because the vector curves remain the same. The process would also likely lose the fine tuning of a professional typeface like the kerning, so it would not be desirable anyways.
- ponker 6y agoWhat about printing it into a static image and then extracting the curves?
- cjsawyer 6y agoIn Photoshop: Make text Rasterize text later Select layer pixels Use the tool that vectorizes pixel selections, it’s in the bottom of the vector layers panel Open vectors in Illustrator This won’t generate as clean of paths as a person would, though.
- svnpenn 6y agoWell, since they didnt bother to actually link the damn thing, here it is: https://cloud.webtype.com/css/a3ef0e70-14ef-4a0a-ab95-f8b0d80f4893.css https://cloud.webtype.com/css/a3ef0e70-14ef-4a0a-ab95-f8b0d8... I would be careful though, look like they have a copyright warning, and a tracking GIF
- aarchi 6y agoYou'd need a web license to use this legally.
- sago 6y agoA labour of love, I think, rather than extreme functionality (compared to the surely-hundreds of alternative Helveticas). Reminded me of an element of Helvetica that bugs me (that different versions / boldness mitigate but this one has, definitely) is that capital letters look a little bolder than lower case. Just a fraction. But noticeable. Almost that effect when you need small caps, by dropping the font size. Not that garish, but doesn't quite look right to me. Anyone else?
- c3534l 6y agoNo, you're absolutely right.
- sp332 6y agoWow, the obliques are a big improvement. Gotta love the alternate R for people (like me) who thought Helvetica's little wiggle seemed out of place.
- zingplex 6y agoThe spur on the uppercase G always felt out of place in my view. It's a shame they didn't clean that up while they were at it.
- saagarjha 6y agoDid you mean: Arial If that didn’t adequately convey my disgust at your suggestions, let this addendum make my feelings towards your “clean up” crystal clear.
- zingplex 6y agoI'm more talking about something like Helvetica Now but with some of the alternative characters that are already included with the font enabled by default.
- mikedc 6y agoWorth noting that Monotype's version of NHG, which IIRC was produced in partnership with Font Bureau and is identical to the linked specimen, is available via Adobe Fonts (né TypeKit), and so to anyone with a Creative Cloud subscription. This makes it somewhat more accessible than similar grotesques, and you'll see it in many places if you're looking.
- ceiphr 6y agoOne of my favorite fonts. I loved the way they used it in Destiny 2's UI.
- brobinson 6y agoIt was also used in the game "Remember Me" (2013)
- jrantaka 6y agoSeeing the slight but significant changes from the previous digitizations this typeface feels a much more honest homage to the original print-press Neue Haas Grotesk. Seen so many variants of Helvetica over the years and this has stood through time as one of the better versions of it.
- vmception 6y agoOk guys, how do I get “into” this? I can respect the impact that the right typography has on a document or graphic design But actually evaluating and synthesizing outcomes based on what I know about font families and specific nuance of letter formation is foreign to me And every comment on this thread reads like satire to me I’m really sitting here like “who cares”, like always when it comes to font and typography discussion. But I at least want to know how the rest of you all got here. Where to start? I’m a little beyond “I dont know why I like this logo/site” but quite a bit before “Ah yes, obliques! Touch me, Senpai~”
- keiferski 6y agoTypography, and more broadly design, have a big impact on the way you perceive things. The rabbit hole is endless, but I recommend three entry points: - The Design Trilogy of films, made up of Helvetica, Objectified, and Urbanized. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Design_Trilogy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Design_Trilogy - The book Universal Principles of Design by William Lidwell - The 101 Things I Learned In... series. There isn't one for typography, unfortunately, but the Fashion, Urban Design, Architecture, and Product Design books cover similar territories.
- cprecioso 6y agoI suggest “The Elements of Typographic Style” by Robert Bringhurst. Already the first 5 pages come with a quick guide to typographic elements and history that made me fascinated.
- eps 6y agoThis is the book, can't recommend it high enough. It works for those who are just looking for the intro and those who are knee-deep in the subject already. An absolutely fantastic read and a pleasure to look at. Also, some editions use Touche paper for the cover, so it got a very nice feel to it too :)
- zachrose 6y agoThere are a lot of different things to be interested in. At one end visual/graphic design is interesting because, like engineering, it's seeking optimum performance among constraints. Neue Hass Grotesk might technically "outperform" other specific fonts in specific contexts, enabling you to find, say, a restroom at the airport faster and with less effort than if the sign were in Fraktur. On another end of it, there's the recognition that what often starts off as efficient or economical in one context will form a cultural symbiosis with that context, carrying it around for decades or centuries to follow. That's why Cooper Black might remind you of cheerful commercialism from the 70s, but it also explains how seeing Eurostyle on a fried chicken menu will give you a very specific idea about how much you'll be paying and what the condiments will be like. In between, there's "crazy lizard brain stuff" like the Bouba/kiki effect: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bouba/kiki_effect https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bouba/kiki_effect
- dona1345 6y agohttps://news.ycombinator.com/deadlink https://news.ycombinator.com/deadlink
- dona1345 6y agohttps://news.ycombinator.com/newcomments https://news.ycombinator.com/newcomments
- blobdon 6y agoWas the double a (“aa”) intentional?
- bbotond 6y agoIf you mean in the red text, yes. Those are two different variants of the same character.
- miohtama 6y agoThe history page is the most interesting one. I finally learnt the emitology of Helvetica: > The name “Neue Haas Grotesk” was deemed less than ideal for an international Linotype market though. Heinz Eul, sales manager at Stempel, suggested “Helvetia”, which is Latin for “Switzerland”, but Hoffmann was not convinced, especially since a sewing machine manufacturer and insurance company already carried the name. He instead suggested “Helvetica” – “the Swiss”. http://www.fontbureau.com/NHG/history/ http://www.fontbureau.com/NHG/history/
- ivve 6y agoWe use Neue Haas Grotesk for our design system. and I never knew it had such a history behind it. TIL! Don't know how to say this articulately but I've always thought of it as Helvetica's beatnik cousin.
- mproud 6y agoIt’s just newer take on Akzidenz-Grotesk (1898). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Akzidenz-Grotesk https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Akzidenz-Grotesk