David Alcorn designed this Logo in 1971.

“The North Face” logo is a prime example of the use of Helvetica font. The equal space between the letters allows for a simple but rather catchy look to the clothing brand. I believe the author used this type of type face so that this brand would be recognizable. The Helvetica typeface is the most  modernized script text, which would give this author reason to use it. The North Face brand has recently become more popular, so a more modernized font would seem most appropriate. The Helvetica font in general has a great figure ground relationship and is well shown off in this example. Helvetica is actually the most popular figure ground relationship. The text is used as the negative space within the bright red background that acts as a positive. This is because the text acts as showing through the colored background. This is key for The North Face so that for any color combination that they are to chose it can easily be changed. David Alcorn choose to use a more straight type of of Helvetica instead of the more rounded sub types of font. This would have to do with the different height and width of the font. The skinnier width and equal cap height keeps these letters consistent. Alcorn chose to not use any italic lettering and stick to roman as it is more transparent among our society. In conclusion, Helvetica has many different type families that could have been used. The North Face logo is categorized  in the roman garamond pro reglar type face and creates a simple but very recognizable logo for this popular outdoor brand.