Helvetica was born in 1957 at the Haas Type Foundry in the sleepy Swiss town of Münchenstein. The foundry's director, Eduard Hoffman, commissioned a former employee, Max Miedinger, to design an updated version of the 1896 sans-serif typeface Akzidenz Grotesk, popular with Swiss graphic designers in the '50s. Miedinger's letterforms were smooth and well-proportioned, with a pleasing roundness that feels friendly yet sleek and efficient, like an amiable, perfectly groomed flight attendant in business class.