Helvetica is a sans serif typeface that was created in 1957 and designed by Max Miedinger. Helvetica is described as a ‘neo grotesque’ typeface, which are designed to have each letter be as uniform as possible to keep the letters looking consistent with each other. Another way it does this is by having the letters being consistently very close to each other. It is the most widely used sans sariff typeface, mainly being favorable to graphic designers.
Helvetica is a typeface that was designed to encompass any type of word, phrase, sentence, etc. It has been referred to as a ‘neutral’ typeface. That is why it is a popular typeface for graphic designers. It looks clear enough to be readable by anyone, so graphic designers use it as the standard typeface to get their message, product or idea to as much people as possible. Helvetica was designed with negative space in mind, so it can stand out from the background and other design elements. When an graphic designer uses Helvetica as the typeface for their work it means the message of whatever they have made is the most important part of the work.
(image taken from Helvetica | Webfont & Desktop font | MyFonts )