Akzidenz-Grotesk
Akzidenz-Grotesk
H. Berthold AG, 1896
Sans-serif · Swiss modernism before Helvetica existed. Sober, industrial, German.
This is the typeface Helvetica was designed to compete with, and the Swiss designers of the International Typographic Style used it for a decade before Helvetica existed. Akzidenz means "jobbing" — it was drawn for commercial printing rather than as a statement, which is the opposite of the reverence it is now treated with.
How to tell it apart
| Mistaken for | Which letters to check |
|---|---|
| Helvetica | Akzidenz has more irregular, less unified letterforms; Helvetica's were systematically regularised. Check the lowercase g and the R. |
The facts
- Designed by
- H. Berthold AG
- Released
- 1896
- Classification
- Sans-serif
- What it signals now
- Swiss modernism before Helvetica existed. Sober, industrial, German.
Where you have seen it
- American Airlines' original identity
- Much Swiss graphic design of the 1950s
This page describes the typeface rather than showing it. Displaying a specimen requires a licensed font file and almost none of these may be redistributed, so the descriptions name the letters to look at instead.
Common questions
- Who designed Akzidenz-Grotesk?
- H. Berthold AG, in 1896.
- What is Akzidenz-Grotesk used for?
- Swiss modernism before Helvetica existed. Sober, industrial, German. You will have seen it on American Airlines' original identity, Much Swiss graphic design of the 1950s.
- What is the difference between Akzidenz-Grotesk and Helvetica?
- Akzidenz has more irregular, less unified letterforms; Helvetica's were systematically regularised. Check the lowercase g and the R.
Related pages
- Helvetica Routinely mistaken for this one
- Typefaces from the 1890s 1 here
- Franklin Gothic Morris Fuller Benton, 1902
- Johnston Edward Johnston, 1916
- Futura Paul Renner, 1927
- Gill Sans Eric Gill, 1928
- Helvetica Max Miedinger and Eduard Hoffmann, 1957
- Univers Adrian Frutiger, 1957
- Optima Hermann Zapf, 1958
- Eurostile Aldo Novarese, 1962
Sources
- Official vendor product documentation — At One Place