Typophile

Christoph Niemann's charming grotesk

presta

Hello, all. The illustrator Christoph Niemann has a monthly column in the NY Times. I love the grotesk face he uses on these recent illustrations, but can't quite figure out what it is – those terminals (and the 'a'!) are a little too quirky for WhatTheFont.

But not for you – what is it? Thanks for the help!

Looks like a precursor to Helvetica, but too tired to hunt for it now. Maybe someone else recognizes it.

It's very close to Akzidenz Grotesk. The ascender of the t doesn't quite match, and the a's design (featuring the spur) seems to have been borrowed from a thinner weight.

May be Theinhardt?

Definitely a Helvetica precursor, I agree, but not even close to either of the Akzidenz families I have (Berthold and… Adobe?). Ryuk, Theinhardt is excruciatingly close, but the 'e' and 'a' are quirkier in the face pictured above - thanks for turning me on to that font, though.

We're still hunting. Chris, maybe you've rested up? I believe in you, typophiles.

On review, I can't decide if it's Theinhardt or not. Laying the a sample over this image in photoshop, it looks like the 'e' and the 'a' are indeed different, but I'll be damned if everything else isn't exactly the same. Am I crazy?

It’s definitely Theinhardt Medium. If there is anything quirkier or slightly different, it will be the result of low resolution and hinting. The ascender of the t, the bulky a and the exclamation mark match perfectly.

You're right, monsieur. Thanks all, and great ID, Ryuk!

Captured from web.archive.org on 18 Oct 2013. view this capture