{"id":19696,"date":"2026-07-10T08:36:52","date_gmt":"2026-07-10T07:36:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.20i.com\/blog\/?p=19696"},"modified":"2026-07-10T08:36:54","modified_gmt":"2026-07-10T07:36:54","slug":"why-i-love-helvetica","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.20i.com\/blog\/why-i-love-helvetica\/","title":{"rendered":"Why I \u2764\ufe0f Helvetica"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Hi! I\u2019m Ricky, one of the platform guys here at 20i.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alongside my love of all things tech, I\u2019m also a keen gym-goer, foodie (I love a decent Sunday roast at a nice country pub) and dog owner (Dexter<\/em> the French Bulldog). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But, I also harbour a secret: I am a font\/typography nerd and I love Helvetica<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

For me, Helvetica is civilization, and without it, we have nothing. In my opinion, it is to the typeface what Volkswagen is to the car; what Super Mario is to gaming; what 20i is to hosting; what LED is to lighting. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Please allow me to quote from Wikipedia<\/a>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cIts use became a hallmark of the International Typographic Style that emerged from the work of Swiss designers in the 1950s and 60s, becoming one of the most popular typefaces of the 20th century.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

So, what is it that I like about Helvetica? <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

A font is a choice of tool which allows the author to style how they communicate their message to the reader.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ideally, the message should be communicated as efficiently as possible, and Helvetica achieves this. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is compact (tightly spaced), it isn\u2019t wasteful (it\u2019s a sans-serif), and it is highly legible (terminal strokes are horizontally\/ vertically cut).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

IT at my school was taught during the Archimedes era (remember them?) and the word processing software came with only the following fonts:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Font<\/strong><\/td>What I thought (aged 15)<\/strong><\/td><\/tr>
Times New Roman<\/td>Too formal, difficult to read when small<\/td><\/tr>
Courier<\/td>Too computery!<\/td><\/tr>
Brush Script<\/td>Eugh. No.<\/td><\/tr>
Helvetica<\/td>Ahh, yes. Definitely yes<\/td><\/tr>
Comic Sans<\/td>Just kidding, this wasn\u2019t around when I was at school, thankfully<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

And now aged 45, I still think the very same thing, and it seems I’m not alone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Wikipedia page for Brush Script<\/a> says that it was voted #3 in “Least Favourite” nomination in the 2007 designers’ survey, and #5 in “The 8 Worst Fonts In The World” list in Simon Garfield’s 2010 book.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Brush<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

It turns out that 15-year-old me was onto something. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Simon Garfield actually dedicated a whole chapter to the systemic hatred of Brush Script in his brilliant book Just My Type<\/em> (a must-read if you want to understand why fonts make people so emotional).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But back to the king of typefaces. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What makes Helvetica so fascinating is its ability to be two completely contradictory things at once. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is modern, yet timeless. It\u2019s neat, tidy, and highly civilised, while somehow managing to feel intensely corporate and completely anti-corporate at the same time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It doesn’t scream for your attention; it just delivers the message and gets out of the way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It hasn’t always been viewed as the pinnacle of sophistication, though. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Helvetica’s roots lie in the “Neue Haas Grotesk” typeface. In the type-design world, “Grotesque” (or Grotesk<\/em> in German) originally meant exactly what you think it means: ugly and deformed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When the first sans-serif fonts appeared in the 19th century, the design community – who were used to ornate, curly serifs – thought they looked hideous and alien. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Over time, the shock wore off, and “Grotesque” simply became the industry shorthand for a clean, early sans-serif.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That “ugly” heritage evolved into the ultimate shape-shifter of the digital age. You literally cannot escape its influence across modern operating systems, whether you realise it or not. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

On Windows, you see its DNA smoothed out in fonts like Tahoma and Verdana. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

On Linux, Arial fills the void as its ubiquitous, metric-compatible twin. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

And on macOS, Apple\u2019s love affair with clean typography has kept Helvetica (and its spiritual successor, San Francisco) hardcoded into the system’s DNA. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are even a couple of fantastic deep-dive videos on YouTube: one exploring how Helvetica saved the NYC subway…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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