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Ask DN: What font did Apple use on the iOS 8 banner at Moscone West?

over 9 years ago from , UI Designer (Freelancer)

Hey!

First of all, I'm not really a typography expert. A few hours ago photos of an iOS 8 banner at Moscone West showed up on some blogs. It seems like the "8" on the banner isn't written in Helvetica. Does anyone know what font Apple used to create that banner?

Here is a comparison between the iOS 8 banner (left) and Helvetica Neue Ultra light (right).

7 comments

  • Sam Dal MonteSam Dal Monte, over 9 years ago

    It’s probably Apple’s proprietary version of Myriad. Here’s Myriad Pro’s “8” for comparison.

    5 points
    • Maciej ZadykowiczMaciej Zadykowicz, over 9 years ago

      This. They have their own customized version of Myriad with a wider range of weights, the ones on the banner being on the thin side.

      1 point
    • Fabian SchultzFabian Schultz, over 9 years ago

      Yes, they call it 'Myriad Set Pro', as seen on http://www.apple.com/30-years/.

      2 points
    • Kai HalfingerKai Halfinger, over 9 years ago

      Do you guys thinks that Apple will switch to Myriad Pro as the new system font for iOS 8?

      0 points
      • Fabian SchultzFabian Schultz, over 9 years ago

        I doubt that. Myriad Pro is Apple's corporate font since 2002 or something (even though they used Helvetica for the iOS7 banners).

        0 points
    • Peter NowellPeter Nowell, over 9 years ago

      Sam and Maciej are correct. I spent quite a bit of time decoding this the other day. Apple has an Ultralight version of Myriad Set that they've been using recently—the “8” on the banner is a slightly cleaned-up version of that, to make it look perfect at an enromous size rather than a small (50px tall) size.

      The way the entire shape of the 8 acts as a single curved line, and how it doesn't quite intersect perfectly are a distinguishing factor of Myriad. If you enlarge the webfont Apple uses on the 30 years of Mac site, you'll notice that the X part of the 8 where the lines intersect is a little blocky—for the banner the intersection has perfect angles.

      0 points
  • Eli SladeEli Slade, over 9 years ago

    I am wondering the same thing. I took the image and changed it to black & white contrast and then posted to WhatTheFont and none of the results where correct. Hopefully someone knows.

    0 points