Helvetica is a sans-serif typeface developed in 1957 at the Haas Type Foundry of Switzerland, by Max Miedinger and Eduard Hoffman, formerly known as Die Neue Haas Grotesk. After the War designers wanted something new to give back a feeling of Idealism after the horrific event. Type designers were attempting to design a new neutral type of typeface that would be easy to use and could be used by a wide range of agencies and companies while staying fresh and Unique to each at the same time.
The lettering was cut out of steel at actual size, so many typefaces did not have italics and bold themes.
They had to cut them out individually and create many to make production easier
Helvetica had an interesting 'Swiss-twist' where the letters seemed to have a negative shape that held the inside and outside together, a firm shape rather than having a letter that was commanded by the negative space around, instead it is controlled by the letter.
Miedinger was a graphic artist but only did deliveries as Haas foundry, yet came into the design when Helvetica was being manufactured in a way.
It was handed over to Stempal, Linotype in Germany where the final reworks and polishing were done.
Designers wanted something with clarity, a neutral typeface that was efficient and it's smoothness created a humanity about it.
The popularity of the typeface grew over the years and is still very much liked today.
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