Thursday, March 21, 2013

Garcia- Type Designer



For this type designer entry I decided to take a look at Max Miedinger. Miedinger is a Swiss typeface designer. He is most famous for creating one my favorite typefaces, Helvetica. This was originally known as Neus Haas Grotesk.  Miedinger trained as an apprentice typesetter in a book printing office.  At the age of 26, he became a Typographer in the advertising studio of the Globus department store chain. In 1956 he became a freelance Graphic Artist in Zurich.  In 1957 he created Neue Haas Grotesk. He was commissioned by Edouard Hoffman, a director of the Hass Type Foundry to develop a new serif typeface. Miedinger is also known for designing: Pro Arte, Horizontal, Swiss 921, Swiss 721, Monospace 821 and Miedinger. Max Miedinger passed away in 1980.

  The reason I chose this type designer is because his design for Neus Haas Grotesk, now known as Helvetica. This typeface is known for its clean neutral and legible design. It’s now used in corporate logos, advertising, print and public signs. Companies that use Helvetica for their corporate logo include: Crate&Barrel, BMW, Jeep, America Airlines, Toyota, and Evian water. Many famous designers use it as a main choice, such as Massimo Vignelli. There is even an entire film named after it. I believe that Miedinger’s type design was crucial in the progression in typeface design, more specifically for modernist design.


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