In the second half of the 1950s, the Swiss graphic designer Max Miedinger created, in Helvetica, one of the defining typefaces of the 20th century. He developed his professional expertise by means of a typesetting apprenticeship and studies at the Kunstgewerbeschule in Zurich (now Zurich University of the Arts). He then had spells working for the advertising division of the Swiss department store chain Globus and for the Haas type foundry in Basel, where he worked as a customer account manager.

Establishing an independent career in 1956, Miedinger went on to design the Haas sans serif typeface the following year for his previous employer. The font was renamed Helvetica in 1960 for its launch on the international market. It became the typographical epitome of the Swiss design of the era, which was notable for its clarity, legibility and sobriety. By the time Miedinger died in 1980, his Helvetica creation – for which the licencing company Linotype paid him royalties right up to his death – had become a ubiquitous element of the global typographical landscape.