Microsoft starts from Helvetica Black Oblique, the italic variant of the heavy font, and makes itself unique through a distinctive ligature between the “f” and “t,” as well as one between the “o” and “s” that takes a cut out of the former. Knoll’s logo relies more on the impact of its signature color. The North Face, by contrast, totally transforms the font through vivid color and text right-aligned with a graphic emblem which we interpret as a cliff, appropriate for the outdoor outfitters. Lufthansa is also pretty close to Helvetica Black, but introduces some slight changes to the thickness of certain elements-for example, the vertical shaft of the “L” and the top of the “a”-that really takes it from good to great. Note that from here on we’ll show the actual logo first, then a version in plain black, unmodified Helvetica below it. As we’ll see, though, even tiny adjustments of kerning (the space between letters) or ligatures (connections between letters), not to mention color, can make a huge difference. The results are varied: some hardly resemble Helvetica anymore at all, while others tweak the typeface only ever so slightly. That’s less than half of the big brand companies out there whose logotypes are based on this font, but a good sampling nonetheless-one that shows how a single typeface can work across industries from motorcycles (Harley-Davidson) to makeup (NARS). In this post, we’ll look at 20 extremely famous logos all derived from Helvetica. Developed in 1957 by Swiss type designers Max Miedinger and Eduard Hoffmann, Helvetica is such a versatile typeface that it is virtually everywhere-logo designs included. Helvetica offers the best possible lesson. Getting from point A to point B is one of the most common, difficult tasks that a graphic designer faces. In plainer terms, one of them is nothing, the other is something. Just what separates a brand name in a standard, mass-distributed typeface from a bona fide logo? One of them is generic and basically worthless, while the other is (hopefully) an impactful, memorable, skillfully made, often very expensive work of design.
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