Helvetica's Better Substitutes

Carl Shank • October 19, 2023

Helvetica's Better Substitutes. In the July/August 1995 edition of Adobe Magazine, Robin Williams, a noted typographer, says Helvetica, though immensely popular in the 60s and 70s, became passé. Like the beehive hairdo, Helvetica is continuously used but creates a tired and dated look. He says, "Just because it's on your computer doesn't mean you have to use it. The greatest single thing you could do for your publications is to invest in another sans serif ("without feet") face, one with a strong, bold black version in its family. As with all trends, Helvetica will someday be back in style—in about two hundred years."


He gives in another article some alternatives to Helvetica — ITC Franklin Gothic, Futura, Gill Sans and ITC Stone Sans as examples. And Daniel Will Harris in "Add Impact to Type" in the magazine Technique, March/April 1994 issue, suggests a wide range of alternatives to Helvetica — Agfa Roti's Sans, Avenue, Eras, Formata, Franklin Gothic, Frutiger, Gill Sans, ITC Goudy Sans, Lucida Sans, Optima, Shannon or Univers.


However, I find in hometown newspapers all over, the tired and dated, and boring, use of Helvetica persists. In my hometown, a local printer, well-known and established for many years, uses Helvetica for ads that not only do not stand out, but fail in modern typographical terms. I am sure the rationale for Helvetica's use is that this is the typeface they have used for ages, is the most convenient, is the fastest to use on a compressed time factor, and no one has ever complained. However, there are typographical alternatives to Helvetica, even in a rather traditionally based hometown, that would give better results. I note them below with a copy of a typical ad.


I fully understand that busy print shops and overworked staff, and perhaps not very well trained in modern  typographical practices, simply default to Helvetica. But I believe we can all do better. Note the alternatives below and some information on the alternative typefaces used.

Successful Layout & Design

British Typography History

By Carl Shank • August 19, 2026
British Typography History The history of English typography is closely connected with the development of printing, calligraphy, book production, commerce, and eventually industrialization. England was relatively late in adopting printing compared with Germany, Italy, and France, but it developed distinctive typographic traditions that became enormously influential throughout the English-speaking world. If Italian typography is often associated with the Renaissance Roman, French typography with refinement and the Romain du Roi tradition, and German typography with Gothic/blackletter and later modernism, English typography is particularly notable for its combination of practical printing, readable book type, commercial display typography, industrial innovation, private-press revival, signage, and humanist modernism.

Yellow Pages Typography

By Carl Shank • August 14, 2026
“Let Your Fingers Do the Walking!” The Yellow Pages developed from the ordinary telephone directory and became one of the most important forms of commercial advertising and business information in the twentieth century. For much of the century, the Yellow Pages were essentially the printed marketplace of a community—a place where people could find plumbers, doctors, restaurants, retailers, manufacturers, churches, and virtually every other kind of business.
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