Haettenschweiler

Commercial Use Guidance

License terms are not explicit. Verify commercial rights with the source.

Description

Haettenschweiler derives from a more condensed typeface, called Schmalfette Grotesk, first shown in the early 1960s in a splendid book called Lettera by Walter Haettenschweiler and Armin Haab. Schmalfette Grotesk was a very condensed, very bold alphabet of all capitals – schmalfette means "bold condensed" in German, and grotesk indicates it is without serifs. It was immediately picked up by designers at Paris Match who cut up pictures of it to make headlines. Soon everybody wanted it. In due course, extra-bold extra-condensed faces for families like Helvetica began to appear, looking remarkably like the original Schmalfette. Photoscript had made a lowercase version quite early on. Later, they made a less condensed version and called it Haettenschweiler Extended as a tribute to a designer whose idea so greatly affected the graphic scene in the second half of the century. Use this distinguished face in large sizes for headlines.