--- title: "Sans-serif typefaces, oldest first" description: "22 sans-serif typefaces from 1896 onwards, who designed each and what it reads as today. Plus the ones they get confused with." url: https://atoneplace.net/font/sans/ site: "At One Place" --- # Sans-serif typefaces 22 sans-serif typefaces, oldest first. | Typeface | Year | Designer | What it signals now | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Akzidenz-Grotesk | 1896 | H. Berthold AG | Swiss modernism before Helvetica existed. Sober, industrial, German. | | Franklin Gothic | 1902 | Morris Fuller Benton | American newspapers, headlines, twentieth-century news. | | Johnston | 1916 | Edward Johnston | London. Specifically and only London. | | Futura | 1927 | Paul Renner | Bauhaus modernism, and then anything wanting to look confident and geometric. | | Gill Sans | 1928 | Eric Gill | Britain, mid-century. Railways, the BBC, Penguin paperbacks. | | Helvetica | 1957 | Max Miedinger and Eduard Hoffmann | Neutral corporate modernism. So common it reads as no choice at all — which was the intent. | | Univers | 1957 | Adrian Frutiger | Systematic Swiss design. The typeface for people who find Helvetica sloppy. | | Optima | 1958 | Hermann Zapf | Elegant, slightly classical. Cosmetics, memorials, luxury that does not want to shout. | | Eurostile | 1962 | Aldo Novarese | The future, as imagined between 1965 and 1985. Squarish, technical, spaceship. | | Frutiger | 1976 | Adrian Frutiger | Wayfinding. Airports, hospitals, road signs, anything you read while moving. | | Bell Centennial | 1978 | Matthew Carter | A phone book. Extreme constraint made visible. | | Arial | 1982 | Robin Nicholas and Patricia Saunders | A default. Something nobody chose. | | Chicago | 1984 | Susan Kare | The original Macintosh, and the first iPod. | | FF Meta | 1991 | Erik Spiekermann | The 1990s doing corporate identity properly. Warm, readable, slightly quirky. | | Verdana | 1996 | Matthew Carter | A website designed between 1998 and 2008. | | Gotham | 2000 | Tobias Frere-Jones | American, optimistic, competent. The 2008 Obama campaign and everything that copied it. | | Calibri | 2004 | Lucas de Groot | A Word document from between 2007 and 2023. | | Roboto | 2011 | Christian Robertson | Android. Google. An app. | | Open Sans | 2011 | Steve Matteson | A website built between 2012 and 2018. Neutral, open, free. | | San Francisco | 2014 | Apple | An Apple device, since 2015. | | Inter | 2017 | Rasmus Andersson | A software product designed after about 2019. Screen-native, neutral, everywhere. | | Aptos | 2023 | Steve Matteson | A Word document written after 2023. | - [Akzidenz-Grotesk](https://atoneplace.net/font/akzidenz-grotesk/) — H. Berthold AG, 1896 - [Franklin Gothic](https://atoneplace.net/font/franklin-gothic/) — Morris Fuller Benton, 1902 - [Johnston](https://atoneplace.net/font/johnston/) — Edward Johnston, 1916 - [Futura](https://atoneplace.net/font/futura/) — Paul Renner, 1927 - [Gill Sans](https://atoneplace.net/font/gill-sans/) — Eric Gill, 1928 - [Helvetica](https://atoneplace.net/font/helvetica/) — Max Miedinger and Eduard Hoffmann, 1957 - [Univers](https://atoneplace.net/font/univers/) — Adrian Frutiger, 1957 - [Optima](https://atoneplace.net/font/optima/) — Hermann Zapf, 1958 - [Eurostile](https://atoneplace.net/font/eurostile/) — Aldo Novarese, 1962 - [Frutiger](https://atoneplace.net/font/frutiger/) — Adrian Frutiger, 1976 - [Bell Centennial](https://atoneplace.net/font/bell-centennial/) — Matthew Carter, 1978 - [Arial](https://atoneplace.net/font/arial/) — Robin Nicholas and Patricia Saunders, 1982 - [Chicago](https://atoneplace.net/font/chicago/) — Susan Kare, 1984 - [FF Meta](https://atoneplace.net/font/meta/) — Erik Spiekermann, 1991 - [Verdana](https://atoneplace.net/font/verdana/) — Matthew Carter, 1996 - [Gotham](https://atoneplace.net/font/gotham/) — Tobias Frere-Jones, 2000 - [Calibri](https://atoneplace.net/font/calibri/) — Lucas de Groot, 2004 - [Roboto](https://atoneplace.net/font/roboto/) — Christian Robertson, 2011 - [Open Sans](https://atoneplace.net/font/open-sans/) — Steve Matteson, 2011 - [San Francisco](https://atoneplace.net/font/san-francisco/) — Apple, 2014 - [Inter](https://atoneplace.net/font/inter/) — Rasmus Andersson, 2017 - [Aptos](https://atoneplace.net/font/aptos/) — Steve Matteson, 2023 ## Related pages - [Serif typefaces](https://atoneplace.net/font/serif/) - [Slab serif typefaces](https://atoneplace.net/font/slab/) - [Display typefaces](https://atoneplace.net/font/display/) - [Monospace typefaces](https://atoneplace.net/font/monospace/)