Typophile

(x) Helvetica-like sans serif on Sneaker Pimps "Splinter" album cover - various {Günther Gutenberg}

fruitygrr

What is this font used on this 1999 album cover?

I've tried Identifont and WhatTheFont, but no luck. It seems to be Helvetica bold, but the s and l aren't right. (Neither are the p descenders, but those might just be customized).

Thanks for your help.

I don't know, but it's really nice! I feel that Helvetica is a bit to rational and cold for me at the moment, but this one could most definately be used as an alternative. I especially like the 'l'

Exactly! This looks like an amazing friendlier-than-helvetica font. I want it so bad. I even tried to find out who designed the cover, but no success there either.

Hopefully someone here knows.

Kind of reminds me of DIN, but to many differences to be correct.

p@

Looks like someone’s been playing around with Helvetica Bold, strangely cutting the n and p, borrowing the lc. s from Akzidenz Grotesk Bold and adding a Schulbuch Nord-inspired lc. l.

If you’re looking for a similar (but consistently designed) font I’d recommend Schulbuch Nord, which is a reworked Akzidenz Grotesk that has been designed for German schoolbooks. There’s also Schulbuch Süd (aka Schoolbook Alternate etc.), which has a slightly more Futura-like feel.
Please note that both Schulbuch Nord and Süd have the single storey a.

Couldn't it just be an altered Helvetica, or mixed with somehing else?
For example the last 's' in 'Pimps' looks like Akzidenz Grotesk.

But it could be something entirely else, of course.

[edit]

Looks like GünniGutenberg beat me to it.

E-mail Collier Schorr and ask him who designed it.

It looks like a mix between Helvetica and whatever typeface is found on the inside copy of the booklet. I will try and scan it for you soonish.

Thanks, GünniGutenberg. I think you are quite correct. Schulbuch Nord looks great – but why did they use a single story a! :,-,,( , , , ,

Thank you, Ryan, for your future efforts.

Hi Fruity,

at the time when Schulbuch Nord/Süd have been designed, the standard font used in Germany was Akzidenz Grotesk.
The reason for producing a special version of AG exclusively for school books was a simple one: Some letter shapes (like the lc. a) were adapted to the ones of the “Ausgangsschriften”, standardised hand writings taught at primary school in Germany. The intention was to interlink (and therefore facilitate) the process of learning both to read and to write.

Cheers,

Günni

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