NLP Opaque

Neue Haas Grotesk was first shown at Graphic 57, an exhibition of the graphic design industry that took place at the Palais de Beaulieu in Lausanne, Switzerland.

At first it was only available as hand-set type, but in 1959 it was made available for the popular Linotype machine. It was soon licensed by Linotype and renamed Helvetica in 1960 — from the Latin Helvetia, capitalising on Switzerland's reputation as a centre of ultra-modern graphic design. When Neue Haas Grotesk was adapted for Linotype's hot metal machines, significant compromises were made. The matrices for Regular and Bold had to be of equal widths, and therefore the Bold was redrawn at a considerably narrower proportion. During the transition from metal to phototypesetting, Helvetica underwent additional modifications.