Monotype has released 'Helvetica Now Variable,' offering over a million new Helvetica Now styles in one font file. The variable font builds on the foundry's 2019 re-design and release of Helvetica Now to empower designers to blend weights (hairline to extra black), optimal sizes (four point to infinity) and new compressed and condensed widths for more design freedom and unlimited typographic expressions.
"The incredibly positive reception to Helvetica Now makes us proud to build upon this time-tested design even further," commented Charles Nix, Creative Type Director at Monotype. "This font gives designers the firepower they need - from greater creative freedom to typographic expression - to produce exquisitely fine-tuned typography and expressive, animated headlines. Moreover, it's just plain fun, with the potential to bring the good news of variable fonts to the masses. Helvetica Now Variable is everything Helvetica should be today."
Unlike previous font formats that required each style within a family to be a separate file, Helvetica Now Variable bundles the necessary DNA for every style into one tidy package. This allows designers to move through the entire sequence - mixing, matching, and custom creating millions of variations on the family theme - seamlessly through one file that is a fraction of the size of the combined static fonts. Helvetica Now Variable also adds an extensive width axis for designers who must fit more into less space, like with responsive design for the web, small smartwatch screens, or packaging micro-type like ingredient lists.
Images: Courtesy of Monotype