German Alternatives to Helvetica

There’s no doubt that Helvetica is a great typeface. It’s one of the few all-star fonts that has become somewhat of a household name. In fact, I think that my grandmother uses helvetica (ok...maybe she uses Times New Roman.)
And if you have seen the documentary, Helvetica, then you have seen how ubiquitous it really is. It literally appears in millions of logos worldwide.

So what other fonts are out there that are helvetica-ish?
Glad you asked.

My personal favorite alty is Akzidenz Grotesk, an German typeface that was released in 1896. Helvetica (developed 60 years later) was actually based on this typeface.

Which actually brings me to my 2nd favorite alternative, Univers, which also used Akzidenz Grotesk as a model. Ironically, Univers was developed the same year as Helvetica (1957) by Adrian Fruitiger who also developed another great alternative called Fruitiger.

My 3rd favorite is DIN, which is an acronym that translates as “The German Industrial Standard.” DIN (developed in 1923) was also influenced by, you guessed it, Akzidenz Grotesk.

These three (four counting Fruitiger) German sans serif typefaces are beautiful (maybe even more beautiful) than the Swiss latecomer, Helvetica. Give them a chance next time you find yourself thinking, “I guess Helvetica looks fine. I’ll just be lazy and use it.”