Berthold Akzidenz Grotesk Equivalent?

[kcrossley]

Now that Adobe has ended support of Adobe Type 1 fonts, I’m searching for an equivalent to Berthold Akzidenz Grotesk, which is something I use quite often. Does anyone have any recommendations?

Thanks!

[Sajid317264442kye]

Hey there,

Man, it's a bummer Adobe has dropped support for Type 1 fonts, right? Berthold Akzidenz Grotesk is a classic, so I totally get why you'd want to find a close alternative. You might want to check out fonts like "Helvetica Neue," which has a similar Swiss design, or "Univers," which also offers a wide range of weights and styles. Both are modern and well-supported, so they should fit right into your workflow.

If you're looking for something a bit more contemporary but still in line with that classic Akzidenz Grotesk vibe, "FF Meta" and "Avenir" could also be solid choices.

Depending on your project needs and how closely you need to match the original, these options could range from "good enough" to "almost indistinguishable." It might take some trial and error to see which one feels right for you.

Good luck on your font quest!

[Abambo]

You might want to check out fonts like "Helvetica Neue," which has a similar Swiss design, or "Univers," which also offers a wide range of weights and styles. Both are modern and well-supported, so they should fit right into your workflow.

By @Sajid317264442kye

Neither of these is part of https://fonts.adobe.com, which may disqualify them. Needing to buy a similar font does not to be very efficient to me.

[kcrossley]

Thanks for the suggestion. I ended up going with Helvetica Neue, which is an OpenType font, and very similar to Berthold Akzidenz Grotesk. And yes, Adobe dropping support for classic fonts sucks! 

[Abambo]

And yes, Adobe dropping support for classic fonts sucks! 

By @kcrossley

Adobe (and the rest of the world) stopped producing Type 1 fonts some 25 years ago. Supporting Type 1 in newer software asks for extensive testing. Type 1 fonts are still supported in older versions of Adobe software. As this was announced in 2021, I had plenty of time to discuss this with my customers. Decisions are getting taken quickly, if you put a price tag behind the options.

If your customers are font-agnostic, you can change to a different typeface. If not, you need to decide, who would pay for the font. You won't need the whole family for a certain project.

[kcrossley]

If it was a headline or logo font, it might be a problem, but this is just used for body copy, so it's not a big deal. I doubt they would have even noticed, had I not said anything.

[Abambo]

You can purchase the OTF font version from several font resellers: https://www.myfonts.com/collections/akzidenz-grotesk-font-berthold.

I would do that, if I had a customer, insisting on exactly that font. Otherwise, I would look into a different font.

[kcrossley]

At $1,095 for the entire family, I'll pass. Unfortunately, none of my customers are that committed. 🙂

[Abambo]

At $1,095 for the entire family, I'll pass. Unfortunately, none of my customers are that committed. 🙂

By @kcrossley

Sure, the customer needs to pay. Sure. But do you need the entire family?

As a side note, there is existing software converting Type1 fonts to OTF fonts if the licence allows for that. I do not know about the Berthold Akzidenz Grotesk font family.

[kcrossley]

Good point. Must be my OCD kicking in. I like complete font families. I only need 4 weights, so just under $150. Still, Helvetica Neue is fine.

[Howard5FD6]

There seems to be no way to buy individual weights anymore which is crazy

[Abambo]

There seems to be no way to buy individual weights anymore which is crazy

By @Howard5FD6

Check here: https://www.myfonts.com/collections/akzidenz-grotesk-font-berthold

[Howard5FD6]

Yeah that's where I've been looking but when you try to buy an individual weight it won't let you and says "Individual styles for this font may be available for purchase only in family packages"

I just don't understand why they've made it that way, I would definitely buy one weight but there's no way I'm paying over a grand

[Abambo]

Check with myfonts and their customer care!

[Bobby Henderson]

Yeah, that's kind of surprising. I just checked the MyFonts web site for myself. When clicking on the "individual styles" tab a message is displayed that only family packages are available (despite the opening page saying individual styles are available starting at just under $40). The family packages start at $300 or so and go up to over $1000 for the complete family. URW Modern Sans No 1 is a decent knock-off of Akzidenz Grotesk. Copies of it have been bundled into some rival design applications over the years. It's appears to be tricky trying to find legit copies of it for sale though (Monotype bought URW some time ago).

[Bobby Henderson]

I'm kind of surprised Akzidenz Grotesk comes up in discussions these days since the type family hasn't been bundled into Adobe software applications such as Illustrator since the early 1990's. We're going back to when the application installers were on floppy discs.

I'm a little annoyed by Adobe dropping support of Postscript Type 1 fonts. The format may have been old and outdated compared to modern OpenType technology. But long time users have decades worth of files built using those fonts. And this is all happening because of Harfbuzz? I think someone should have designed Harfbuzz better. This is yet another factor to show how digital-based files have so many potentially fatal weaknesses built into them. After 30 plus years of doing computer graphics work and seeing all the things that have "died," be it graphics applications, storage formats or even whole operating systems, the only document storage format that seems safe at all anymore is paper. It sure isn't anything digital.

I still remember how Type 1 Multiple Master fonts arrived with fanfare in the mid 1990's only to disappear from use by the end of the decade. How long will Variable Fonts in OTF flavor survive this time?

Regarding substitutes of Akzidenz Grotesk, URW made a knock-off of it called Modern Sans. Unfortunately it's not one of the families URW has hosted on Adobe Fonts.

Helvetica Neue is a decent substitute for AG, although it is very different in style with all its horizontal terminals and overall cleaner look. As much as I can't stand Arial, it's actually closer in appearance to AG than Helvetica. Franklin Gothic could be a decent substitute for AG.

[BillyNeal_LSM]

Bebas Neue worked for me (in place of the Bethold Akzidenz Grotesk Condensed).