Font of this site - Neue Haas Grotesk

Why Did I Use This Font?

As a graphic designer, every choice I make—whether it's color, layout, or typeface—plays a role in shaping how a message is seen and felt. And if you’ve ever dived into the world of typography, you’ll know that the fonts we use are never neutral. They carry history, intention, and subtle emotion. So when I had to pick a font for my recent project, I went a bit deeper than the default.

You've probably heard of Helvetica, one of the most widely used typefaces in the digital design world. Clean, modern, and highly legible, Helvetica has become almost synonymous with minimalist design. But rather than use the widely available digital version, I decided to go back to its roots.

I chose to work with Neue Haas Grotesk, the original version of Helvetica designed in the mid-1950s by Max Miedinger. Why? Because fonts, like art, can lose their essence when overly adapted. The digital Helvetica that many of us use today has evolved significantly—sometimes at the cost of the subtle elegance that made the original so iconic.

Let’s break down the name for a moment:

• "Neue" means new in German.

• "Haas" comes from the Haas Type Foundry in Münchenstein, Switzerland, where the font was born.

• "Grotesk" refers to a genre of sans-serif fonts, rooted in the Italian word grottesco, meaning “belonging to the cave”—a reference to their stark, geometric form that was once considered strange or unusual.

  
  

Over time, as Neue Haas Grotesk transitioned from metal typesetting to phototype and later to digital, some of its original features were flattened or lost. Christian Schwartz, a contemporary type designer, took on the task of reviving the original typeface, restoring:

• Optical size variations

• Refined spacing

• Properly angled obliques

• Alternate glyphs

This revival doesn’t just bring back a piece of design history—it also gives designers like me more precision and flexibility.

As someone who leans toward sans-serif typefaces in my personal style, Neue Haas Grotesk feels like a natural fit. It’s clean without being cold, modern without losing its humanist touch. And unlike some of its digital successors, it preserves the integrity of the original vision—a quality that aligns with my own design philosophy.

Want to try it for yourself?

You can download the font from:

• 🔗 Dafont Free - Neue Haas Grotesk

• 🔗 Cufon Fonts - Neue Haas Grotesk Display Pro

Sources & Inspiration:

• The Font Bureau – Neue Haas Grotesk

• Behance Type Specimen Poster

• Wikipedia – Sans-serif

• Wikipedia – Helvetica

Choosing the right font is about more than aesthetic—it's about intention. For me, Neue Haas Grotesk brings together form, function, and history. That’s why I used this font.