The incisive appearance of the economical Herald Gothic headline is given by the bevelled corners to the characters, a practice common in the eighteen-seventies for news heads.

This font family is based upon a single condensed ATF sanserif from the period.

Matthew Butterick designed it for Font Bureau, adding two new weights, with each weight including an alternative style of capitals, and small capitals as well.

Among other uses, Herald Gothic is recommended for Newspaper, Magazine and Book use.