I just finished reading Travis Neilson’s article comparing Helvetica and Helvetica Neue and found it very interesting and informative. I have long used Helvetica Neue but mainly because we own the entire font family — not because I actually knew what the differences were and preferred this version. The article does a great job of analyzing those differences and showing them visually. You can also download the full study if you would like to compare letterforms not shown in the article. ITC also has a good article which outlines the changes that were made when this classic family was reworked in 1983. I was really surprised to see how much softness was added to the rounded characters (like “e” and “o”). The effect gives Helvetica Neue a much more cohesive feel. So, I personally will be sticking with Neue. But whether you are Old School or Neue School, this makes for an interesting comparison.
Tags: design, helvetica, Typography
Thanks for the mention and the kind words. I wish I had seen that article on itcfonts.com before I published, that is a great reference.