Editing Helvetica (section)

=== Characteristics ===
[[File:Final tipo.png|thumb|Helvetica's tight [[Counter (typography)|apertures]] contribute to a regular, dense design.]]
* Tall [[x-height]], which makes it easier to read at distance.
* Tight spacing between letters.
* An [[oblique type|oblique]] rather than [[italic type|italic]] style, a common feature of almost all grotesque and neo-grotesque typefaces.
* Wide capitals of uniform width, particularly obvious in the wide 'E' and 'F'.
* Square-looking 's'.
* Bracketed top flag of '1'.
* Rounded off square tail of 'R'.
* Concave curved stem of '7'.
* Two-storied 'a' (with curves of bowl and stem), a standard neo-grotesque feature, and single-storey 'g'

{{Quote box
| quote = Helvetica can't do everything...it can be really weak in small sizes. Shapes like 'C' and 'S' curl back into themselves, leaving tight "[[Aperture (typography)|apertures]]"—the channels of white between a letter's interior and exterior... The lowercase 'e', the most common letter in English and many other languages, takes an especially unobliging form. These and other letters can be a pixel away from being some other letter.
| source = [[Tobias Frere-Jones]]<ref>{{cite web|last1=Covert|first1=Adrian|title=Why Apple's New Font Won't Work On Your Desktop|url=http://www.fastcodesign.com/3031432/why-apples-new-font-wont-work-on-your-desktop|website=FastCoDesign|date=3 June 2014|access-date=28 November 2014|archive-date=6 July 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170706205422/https://www.fastcodesign.com/3031432/why-apples-new-font-wont-work-on-your-desktop|url-status=live}}</ref>
| width = 30%
| salign = right
| align = right
}}
Like many neo-grotesque designs, Helvetica has narrow [[Aperture (typography)|apertures]], which limits its legibility onscreen and at small print sizes. It also has no visible difference between upper-case 'i' and lower-case 'L', although the number 1 is quite identifiable with its flag at top left.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Spiekermann|first1=Erik|title=Helvetica Sucks|url=http://spiekermann.com/en/helvetica-sucks/|website=Spiekermann blog|access-date=15 July 2015|archive-date=5 June 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210605180335/https://spiekermann.com/en/helvetica-sucks/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last1=Spiekermann|first1=Erik|title=Distinct lettershapes are important. Or can you work out this code? 1, I or l?|url=https://twitter.com/espiekermann/status/608914001070845952|website=Twitter|access-date=14 June 2015|archive-date=5 June 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210605180327/https://twitter.com/espiekermann/status/608914001070845952|url-status=live}}</ref> Its tight, display-oriented spacing may also pose problems for legibility.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Spolsky|first1=Joel|title=User Interface Design For Programmers|url=http://www.joelonsoftware.com/uibook/fog0000000249.html|website=Joel On Software|date=24 October 2001|access-date=15 July 2015|archive-date=19 November 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161119025604/http://www.joelonsoftware.com/uibook/fog0000000249.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Other computer fonts intended for legibility at small sizes such as [[Verdana]], [[FF Meta|Meta]], [[Trebuchet MS|Trebuchet]], or a [[monospace font]] such as [[Courier (typeface)|Courier]], which makes all letters quite wide, may be more appropriate than Helvetica.