The core NHS font is Frutiger and the secondary font is Arial. These fonts should be used for all NHS communications. No other fonts should be used, even if your NHS communications are aimed at a specific target audience (e.g. children). The consistent use of permitted fonts achieves the unified and uniform approach that our patients and public want from the NHS. The only exception is foreign language fonts.
Frutiger Serif Font
Frutiger is available to buy in many weights, and licences to use Frutiger both on and offline can be purchased from a number of font sellers. As well as specifying the type and number of licences required, you need to ensure you are buying the Linotype family of Frutiger, and the specific weights of Frutiger 65 Bold, Frutiger 55 Roman, Frutiger 56 Roman Italic and Frutiger 45 Light. These weights, as set out in the guide below, are appropriate for the majority of offline applications. Online, we suggest avoiding using italics because it is less accessible.
The NHS also has a secondary font, Arial, for use when Frutiger is not available. Arial is also an accessible sans serif font with good clarity and legibility. It is a very widely available typeface that all users should have easy access to. Given its availability, Arial will generally be used for internally produced documents like letters, reports and PowerPoint presentations.
The NHS should to be accessible to all people at all times, to provide quality and equality of service and experience. To do this, the language needs of our local communities need to be taken into consideration and there will be occasions when foreign language fonts are required.
A local specialist translator and/or typesetter will be able to advise you on styles for foreign language translation and on commonly used fonts. Use a font that is clear and uncomplicated ensuring that it meets accessibility requirements. If possible, test it out with your target audience before going to print or publishing online.
He established his international position as a typeface designer with his Univers sans-serif font, produced for metal and film in 1957. Together with Bruno Pfäffli and André Gürtler, he founded his own studio in Arcueil near Paris in 1961. He was also Professor for ten years at the Ecole Estienne and eight years at the Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Arts Décoratifs, Paris.
The Swiss type designer Adrian Frutiger decisively influenced the international creation of typefaces after 1950, creating typefaces that are among the most successful of contemporary classics. His Univers typeface and the machine-readable font OCR-B, which was adopted as an ISO standard, are milestones, as is his type for the Paris airports, which set new standards for signage types and eventually evolved into the Frutiger typeface. Together with the sans serif typefaces Avenir and Vectora, they were responsible for his reputation as "Mr. Sans Serif."
Altogether Adrian Frutiger designed over fifty typefaces in varying font styles, including Ondine, Méridien, Serifa, and Iridium. Also created in collaboration with colleagues were the corporate typefaces, including Shiseido, and more than 100 logos and wordmarks. An essential aspect of his activities was the development of typesetting techniques, which is examined in the book along with the history of type.
Along with the modern art and design movements of the early twentieth century, a reconsideration of the largely experimental work of the first generation of sans serif types began in the 1920s. Fonts such as Futura, Kabel and Gill Sans incorporated some of the theoretical concepts of the Bauhaus and DeStijl movements and pushed sans serif to new spheres of respectability.
After the war, interest in sans serif type design was renewed as a symbol of modernism and a break from the first four decades of the century. By the late 1950s, the most successful period of san serif type opened up and the epicenter of this change emerged in Switzerland, signified by the creation of Helvetica (1957) by Eduard Hoffmann and Max Miedinger of the Haas Type Foundry in Münchenstein.
Univers was released by Deberny & Peignot in 1957 and it was quickly embraced internationally for both text and display type purposes. Throughout the 1960s and 70s, like Helvetica, it was widely used for corporate identity (GE, Lufthansa, Deutsche Bank). It was the official promotional font of the 1972 Munich Olympic Games.
However, in Europe the ECMA wanted a font that could be used as an international standard such that it accommodated the requirements of all typographic considerations and computerized scanning technologies all over the world. Among the issues, for example, were the treatment of the British pound symbol () and the Dutch IJ and French oe (œ) ligatures. Other technical considerations included the ability to integrate OCR standards with typewriter and letterpress fonts in addition to the latest phototypesetting systems.
Adobe Frutiger is a sans serif type family named for its designer Adrian Frutiger, who originally developed it for outdoor signs at the Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris, France. The type's open letterforms make it ideal for long-range viewing, but it also works well in print, especially at small sizes. Frutiger's clean and straightforward forms make it an attractive and versatile modern typeface. When paired with NPS Rawlinson, Frutiger helps project an NPS identity that is fresh and lively, but mindful of the past. Frutiger is available for purchase.
A clear and strong graphic identity for an organization is achieved through a careful mix of visual elements. These typically include a logo (the Arrowhead), a limited palette of colors, a limited set of typefaces (usually a serif and sans serif typeface), and a number of distinctive graphic devices (like the black band), all carefully orchestrated to achieve a distinctive look. None of these elements alone can create a strong identity. But when used together, the combination serves to create a visual impression (both consciously and subconsciously) that is unique to that organization.
The team finally settled on two typefaces: Frutiger and NPS Rawlinson. Frutiger is a sans serif typeface developed in 1968 by Adrian Frutiger for signage at the Charles de Gaulle Airport outside Paris. In contrast to Helvetica (or its Microsoft Windows counterpart Arial), Frutiger is characterized by "open" letterforms, which means, for example, that there is less chance for confusion between a "c", an "e" or an "o" on a small map or brochure, or on a road sign viewed from a distance.The design team found that, in addition to the functional advantage of improved legibility, the distinctive letterforms of both Frutiger and NPS Rawlinson set them apart visually from the more common typeface varieties found on typical office computers. This distinctiveness, when applied across the many forms of media used by the NPS, contributed subtly but effectively to the team's overall goal to "establish a unique organizational identity that could be expressed through the full range of communication materials used by the National Park Service."
* These five font pairings are based on using one font for the headline (the main title on your page) and another font for the body text (the longer paragraphs which make up the bulk of content on your page). If you want to add sub-headings or pull-out quotes setting text in an italic weight is always a wise move, or try using a bold or condensed version of your body text font to add contrast while keeping the typography looking polished.
Pairing two fonts taken from either the same family or superfamily is a quick route to creating a design that feels pulled-together and elegant. The success of this sort of pairing rests on the shared similarities between the chosen fonts, rather than contrast, which has a calming effect on the eye. For layouts which require a more traditional, formal or conservative style, this sort of font pairing is the perfect choice.
Modern serifs, such as Didot and Bodoni, have a classic elegance but feel more fun and fashionable than their Old Style relatives. Because they are more contemporary in style, they team best with Geometric sans serifs.
Rounded fonts are youthful, and used alone give an almost childlike quality to a design. Pairing a rounded sans serif headline, like Woodford Bourne or Quicksand with more traditional serif body text exaggerates further the contrast that we looked at with the serif/sans serif font pairing at the start of the article.
"Theinhardt and all the unknown punch cutters would have been familiar with seriffed typefaces such as Walbaum and Didot. This can be seen clearly when characters of Walbaum and Akzidenz Grotesk are superimposed upon each other. The ground form or skeleton of both typefaces is almost identical."
"The italic is nothing more than a slanted version of the roman...The strange thing is that this slanted roman became a sort of standard for sans italics, even today. Typefaces such as News Gothic (1908) and Helvetica all have slanted romans. Even the great type designer Adrian Frutiger made slanted romans with his sans serif designs." 3
"The new generation of sans-serifs began with the Ludwig & Mayer foundry's Erbar (1922-30), designed by Jakob Erbar,* included Rudolf Koch's Kabel and culminated in the Futura of Paul Renner for Bauer. "
In Bayer's approach not only were serifs unnecessary, he felt there was no need for an upper and lower case for each letter. Part of his rationale for promoting this concept was to simplify typesetting and typewriter keyboard layout.
World War II ended typographic explorations in Germany, England and the US, however in the neutral country of Switzerland there was a move backwards to the older sans serif styles such as the Standard Series of 1898.
For some reason, it remains difficult to hunt down font families that have a serif and sans-serif combo. As far as I have found, none of the font sites allow you to search by this designation, yet it seems quite useful to utilize the hard work of typographers who, with great attention, have designed sets that work in this capacity. I'm not a huge student of typography, but I do understand that there's some grumbling about the use of these pairings, that using them produces less-than-ideal results or reflects a bit of laziness. I get it, and agree that some of the best combos are hand picked, but this post isn't about that. There are plenty of other font pairings that don't share a family, that work together because they contrast nicely, but again maybe a different post. This post is simply put together to identify what is available in the event that you're needing a quick sans/sans-serif harmonious combo or you're looking for wider variations within a single family style. 2ff7e9595c
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