H E L VE T I C A N E U E

and other mystical creatures of the swiss imagination

helvetica neue

LEGENDARY:he lve t i ca neue and other mystical creatures of the swiss imagination.

ONCEUPON A TIME...

nestled deep within the alps in the land of snow, chocolate and graphic design there lived many fantastical and terrible creatures +

from the...

BARBEGAZI(a variety of dwarf or gnome resembling a small white furred man with a long beard and enormous feet. they live amongst the moun-tains, using their abnormally long feet as skis or snowshoes to traverse the snowy terrain. during the summer months they hibernate in mountainous caves and do not emmerge until the first snow fall. because of their penchant for extremely low temperatures and high alti-tudes they are rarely seen by humans although they have been known to help shepards round up lost sheep. their greatest delight is surfing the avalanches on their large feet and are said to give low whistling cries to warn humans of the danger above and often give their best effort in digging humans out from the snow.)

to...

P E R C H TA(meaning the bright one. she is a white- robed spirit, beautiful and white like the snow. she is the guardian of wild beasts and goddess of spinning and weaving. she is said to wander the countryside mid-winter and enter homes during the twelve days between christmas and epiphany. she would know whether or not children and young servents of the house-hold had behaved well and worked all year long. if they had they would find a silver coin in a pail or shoe the next morning if they had not, she would slit open their bellies, remove their stomachs and stuff the hole with straw and pebbles. she was particularly concerned to see that girls had spun the whole of their allotted portion of flax or wool over the year.)

and the...

K O B O L D S(woodland sprites who are usually invisible but can often materialize in the form of an animal, fire and human being or even a mun-dane object. their most popular form is that of a small child. kobolds who live in human homes wear the clothing of peasants; those who live in mines are hunched an ugly and those who live aboard ships smoke pipes and wear sailors clothing. most commonly these creatures are house sprite of ambiva-lent nature; while they sometimes perform domestic chores, they play malicious tricks if insulted or neglected. the other most com-mon form of kobold are thosewho haunt underground places such as mines. these are often responsible for mine explosions.)

&

DWARVES: little hill or earth men who are known to be happy and

helpful. they raise cattle and produce cheese. DRAGONETS: fear-

some little dragons measuring about five feet in length who feed

off of livestock. JACK O’ THE BOWL: a mischevous yet helpful house-

hold spirit. housewives leave out a bowl of fresh cream at night to

thank or pacify him. SAMICHLAUS: otherwise known as st. nicho-

las. a gentle soul who leads a donkey laden with treats and toys

for children. SCHMULTZI: samichlaus’s sooty, little helper who

carries a broom of twigs for administering punishment to children

whose behavior has not been up to scratch throughout the year.

SCHNABELGEISS: a terrible, gruesome and very tall monster with

the the horns of a goat and a beak. HUTTEFROUELI: an old wom-

en who carries her drunken husband in a basket on her back.

THE SINGING FIR: a mysterious, melodic tree, hundreds of years

old whose singing can be heard nestled deep in the forrest.

but the most magical creature of them all

was the mystical helvetica neue +

N E U E1 9 8 3

born in swizerland in 1983, the helvetica neue is a descendent of the legendary hel-vetica. developped in the secret labora-tory at d. stempel ag by the devilsh mas-termind wolfgang schimpf and his trusty assistant, reinhaud haus, the helvetica neue is a more legible specimen than his famous ancestor with heavier punctuation marks and increased spacing between its numbers. this creature’s family is made up of 51 fonts, including 9 weights and 3 widths. central european and cyrillic varieties of the helvetica neue are also said to exist in neighboring countries.

a guide to identifying the helvetica neue

}Common Species Variations.

capra ibex

gypaetus barbatus

marmota marmota

cervis canadensis

rupicapra rupicapra

aquila chrysaetos

vulpes lagopus

canis lupus

martes foina

lynx lynx

}

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Common Marks and Tracks

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

Species Form Standards

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helvetica neue Species Sizing Standards

shhh

hhh...while we observe it in it’s natural habitat

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Vhelvetica neue

designed and edited by lindi biery in 2010 for anthony rutka’s typography i class at the maryland

institute college of art with special thanks to wikipedia for providing background information.