page_title: Akzidenz-Grotesk
section_title: Akzidenz-Grotesk Buch
hierarchical_section_title: Akzidenz-Grotesk / Versions / Akzidenz-Grotesk Buch
context_page_description: Akzidenz-Grotesk is a sans-serif typeface family originally released by the Berthold Type Foundry of Berlin. Akzidenz indicates its intended use as a typeface for commercial print runs such as publicity, tickets and forms, as opposed to fine printing, and "grotesque" was a standard name for sans-serif typefaces at the time.
  Originating during the late 19th century, Akzidenz-Grotesk belongs to a tradition of general-purpose, unadorned sans-serif types that had become dominant in German printing during the 19th century. Relatively little-known for a half-century after its introduction, it achieved iconic status in the post-war period as the preferred typeface of many Swiss graphic designers in what became called the 'International' or 'Swiss' design style which became popular across the Western world in the 1950s and 1960s. Its simple, neutral design has also influenced many later typefaces. It has sometimes been sold as Standard or Basic Commercial in English-speaking countries, and a variety of digital versions have been released by Berthold and other companies.
context_section_description: Akzidenz-Grotesk Book (German: Buch) is a variant designed by Lange between 1969 and 1973. Designed after Helvetica had become popular, it incorporates some of its features, such as strike-through tail in 'Q', a curved tail for the 'R', horizontal and vertical cut stroke terminators. As in some Helvetica versions, the cedilla is replaced with a comma. Former Berthold font designer Erik Spiekermann has called Lange's "answer to Helvetica." Late in life Lange made no apology for it, commenting when asked about a design alleged to be a copy of one of his own original designs: "there are also people who say that the best Helvetica is my AG Book."
  Digital versions included Greek and Cyrillic characters, and the family includes a condensed, extended, rounded and stencil series.
caption: Berthold's phototype Akzidenz-Grotesk Buch was heavily based on Helvetica; the two are almost indistinguishable.