Helvetica Typeface gets a makeover after 36 years: NPR

It has been used by brands such as American Airlines, Panasonic and Toyota. It's everywhere in the subway of New York City. Even Google, Apple and Netflix have used it for a while.

Helvetica is ubiquitous around the world, but despite its popularity, the font has some problems: the letters are grouped in small sizes and the space between them can be uneven.

After 36 years, the widely used cast iron – and very controversial – is in the process of being revamped.

The upgrade was designed by Massachusetts-based giant Monotype, which controls licenses for Helvetica. The company has updated each of Helvetica's 40,000 characters for the digital age by offering three new sizes designed to work on everything from display panels to tiny screens of a smartwatch. . The updated font even has a new name: "Helvetica Now".

Like many changes, however, some people are skeptical.

"If I'm perfectly honest, my first reaction was: do we need another Helvetica?" says Charles Nix, director of typography at Monotype.

The weathered cast has become a trendy topic on Twitter. Mitch Goldstein, a design professor at the Rochester Institute of Technology, asked if the rumor surrounding Helvetica meant that the popular font was no longer. Who invited a variety of strong opinions on the police.

"Half of the population said," Great. It's dead. Finally! I'm so happy that it's gone. It's the worst, "says Goldstein. "And the other half of the population was saying:" Helvetica is amazing, she will never die. "

So, why is Helvetica such a polarizing typeface?

"Helvetica is one of those fonts you like or hate," says graphic designer Sarah Hyndman. "Either you use it all the time, it's become a staple, or you feel like you're out, and it's a little too ubiquitous."

Hyndman says that even though people do not like the new look of the police, many agree that Helvetica needed change.

"There are a lot of weaknesses in Helvetica, like the way the letters are spaced apart," she says. "The [letter ‘L’] looks too much [the number ‘1’]. "

Helvetica was also not the most versatile police in the toolbox, admits Nix. Now, he says, everything has changed.

"In the past, Helvetica could not be used for captions and small texts because it was a little tight," he says. "Instead of being micro-challenged, we made it a micro-champion.So when you set captions in the new version of Helvetica, that really sings."

This article was produced and edited for radio by Sophia Boyd and Caitlyn Kim.