Helvetica was designed by Alfred Hoffmann with Max Miedinger in 1957 for the Haas typefoundry of Basel, Switzerland. Helvetica was formerly called Neue Haas Grotesk. Helvetica is inspired by the best nineteenth-century style. The “a” of the Helvetica font has a curved spur and the tail of the “Q” is oblique. The Helvetica font family competed with Univers for international acclaim, as both sans serif faces were issued at almost the same time. Its rational design is suitable for a wide variety of jobs. Helvetica® is a trademark of Linotype Corp. registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and may be registered in certain other jurisdictions in the name of Linotype Corp. or its licensee Linotype GmbH.