ADAM COLE

DIN 1451 Mittelschrift / Engschrift

The first font bearing this name is credited to Wilhelm Pischner and appeared with the font foundry D. Stempel in 1928. DIN stands for Deutsche Industrienorm, German Industrial Standard (it kinda implies its intended use). In 1936 the German Standard Committee settled upon DIN 1451 as the standard font for the areas of technology, traffic, administration and business. The font Neuzeit Grotesk was once the standard in the print industry, as a timeless typeface with no real distinguishing features. Like other typefaces of the 1920s, DIN Neuzeit Grotesk font reflects the philosophy of the times, 'Form is Function.'

The committee chose a sans serif font because of its legibility and because its forms are also easy to write. This font was not foreseen for advertisements and other 'artistically' oriented uses and there were disagreements about its aesthetic qualities. Nevertheless, this font was seen everywhere in Germany, on signs for towns and traffic, and hence made its way into advertisements because of its ease of recognition.

DIN is a trademark of Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG, exclusively licensed through Linotype Library GmbH, and may be registered in certain jurisdictions.