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Lars Müller, Victor Malsy (eds.)

Helvetica forever

Story of a Typeface

This new paperback edition of "Helvetica Forever" traces the typeface’s first fifty years. Designed in 1957, Helvetica quickly became a defining emblem of Swiss graphic design and a model for clear, functional communication worldwide. Its perceived neutral form purposefully resists overt expression – a restraint that has made it both admired and contested, securing its lasting cultural presence.

This now-classic volume situates the evolution of Helvetica alongside other seminal sans serif designs of the twentieth century and examines the forces behind its remarkable global reach. The publication draws on the legacy and archives of Alfred Hoffmann, former director of the Haas Type Foundry where Helvetica was developed in collaboration with Max Miedinger and Eduard Hoffmann.

From signage and corporate identity to editorial design and ephemeral print, the book reveals the many contexts in which Helvetica has shaped visual culture and demonstrates how a seemingly neutral typeface became one of the most influential design tools of the modern era.

This new paperback edition of "Helvetica Forever" traces the typeface’s first fifty years. Designed in 1957, Helvetica quickly became a defining emblem of Swiss graphic design and a model for clear, functional communication worldwide. Its perceived neutral form purposefully resists overt expression – a restraint that has made it both admired and contested, securing its lasting cultural presence.

This now-classic volume situates the evolution of Helvetica alongside other seminal sans serif designs of the twentieth century and examines the forces behind its remarkable global reach. The publication draws on the legacy and archives of Alfred Hoffmann, former director of the Haas Type Foundry where Helvetica was developed in collaboration with Max Miedinger and Eduard Hoffmann.

From signage and corporate identity to editorial design and ephemeral print, the book reveals the many contexts in which Helvetica has shaped visual culture and demonstrates how a seemingly neutral typeface became one of the most influential design tools of the modern era.

English edition – also available in German

Edited by Lars Müller and Victor Malsy

With contributions by Axel Langer and Indra Kupferschmid

Design: Victor Malsy and Lars Müller with Integral Lars Müller

17.5 × 24 cm, 7 × 9 ½ in

160 pages, 150 illustrations

paperback

2026, 978-3-03778-814-1, English
Typography Design History Swiss Graphic Design Reduced US Shipping
CHF 35.00
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Lars Müller

Lars Müller Bücherstapel Hoch

Lars Müller was born in Oslo in 1955 and has been based in Switzerland since 1963. After becoming a graphic designer in Zurich and extended travels, he started a one-year assistant position with designer Wim Crouwel in Amsterdam. Having founded his own studio, Integral Lars Müller, in Baden (Switzerland) in 1982, Müller established a long-lasting friendship with his mentor Josef Müller-Brockmann. In 1983, Müller published his first book and, as Lars Müller Publishers, has produced some 800 titles to date.

Lars Müller is a passionate educator and has taught at various universities in Switzerland, Europe, the USA and Japan. Müller frequently serves on academic and competition juries. From 2009 to 2015 he was a member of the jury of Design Preis Schweiz and from 2013 to 2015 the international president of AGI Alliance Graphique Internationale.

Victor Malsy

Victor Malsy, born 1957 in Froschhausen (Germany). After training as a technical draftsman and nurse, he studied graphic design at the University of the Arts in Bremen. Since 1991, directs his studio, the Büro für Kommunikation und Gestaltung. Professor of communication design from 2000 to 2024 in the design department of the University of Applied Sciences Düsseldorf, with a focus on typography and book design and the history of graphic design.

CHF 35.00