M is for Meta

Meta was designed by Erik Spiekermann and was released in 1991 through his FontFont library. He reputedly intended the typeface to be ‘a complete antithesis of Helvetica’, however, due to its great popularity and extensive use, it was lauded as ‘the Helvetica of the 1990s’—not because the typefaces look alike, but because Meta has become so influential in modern typographic communication. The Meta family has 28 weights, from Hairline to Black, and its comprehensive character sets include small caps, ligatures, fractions and many other typographic features. In 2011 Meta was added to the MoMA Architecture and Design Collection. Meta is classified as a humanist sans serif typeface.