Customer Spotlight: TED-Ed

TED is known worldwide for providing a myriad of programs featuring innovative and influential speakers from a wide swath of disciplines. TED-Ed is an extension of that mission of disseminating knowledge, focused specifically on assisting educators with interactive teaching materials; whereas the TED motto is Ideas Worth Spreading, the mission of TED-Ed is Lessons Worth Sharing.

The TED-Ed website features the Neue Helvetica typeface family extensively, employing it for both the masthead, navigation, and section headlines.

The main navigation bar features Neue Helvetica 65 Medium, while the secondary navigation uses the typeface’s light weight. The core of the site features a series of illustrations, with one panel featuring text set in Neue Helvetica 25 Ultra Light which changes to red when moused over, a nice touch indeed.
The most captivating aspect of the homepage is hidden at first glance. When moused over, the site’s illustrations reveal headlines set in Neue Helvetica 45 Light, which are knocked out of a slightly transparent field of color. Two small subheads set in Neue Helvetica 75 Bold balance the text arrangement quite nicely.

While Neue Helvetica provides an apt counterpoint to the more expressive illustrations on the TED-Ed site, it serves as a greater reminder that, yes, while Neue Helvetica is a stalwart typeface for presenting information cleanly or matter-of-factly, when consciously paired with color it also can embody a more sprightly character.

Neue Helvetica is available in over 50 Web font varieties, ranging in weights and widths from Ultra Light Condensed to Black Extended.