Podium Sans is the

typeface A typeface (or font family) is the design of lettering that can include variations in size, weight (e.g. bold), slope (e.g. italic), width (e.g. condensed), and so on. Each of these variations of the typeface is a font. There are list of type ...

used on all models of iPod with color displays previous to the iPod lineup refresh on September 5, 2007. When the iPod photo was first announced

Apple An apple is an edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus domestica''). Apple fruit tree, trees are agriculture, cultivated worldwide and are the most widely grown species in the genus ''Malus''. The tree originated in Central Asia, wh ...

claimediPod Photo promotion page via the Web Archive Project
/ref> that the device featured a "new

Myriad A myriad (from Ancient Greek grc, μυριάς, translit=myrias, label=none) is technically the number 10,000 (ten thousand); in that sense, the term is used in English almost exclusively for literal translations from Greek, Latin or Sinospher ...

typeface," stating...

Now in living color, it's easier to read than ever. That’s thanks in part to the clarity of the display – it offers 220x176-pixel resolution – and in part to the new Myriad typeface.

The use of Adobe Myriad would have been the first example of Apple using the same font in branding and user interface and indeed the high-res advertising mock-ups clearly used the font. However, at the time few noticed that the font on the devices was missing Myriad's trademark features, such as its 'k' and 'K', its splayed 'M' and distinctive 'y'. Some of these changes, such as the straightening of the 'M', could be explained by Apple's designers simplifying the design to accommodate the small size and low resolution of the device compared to print, however other changes are harder to explain. Whether Podium Sans started life as Myriad or another humanist sans-serif font is up for debate, but Apple no longer mentions the Myriad typeface in connection with the iPod user interface. On newer models, such as the 3G

iPod nano The iPod Nano (stylised and marketed as iPod nano) is a discontinued portable media player designed and formerly marketed by Apple Inc. The first generation model was introduced on September 7, 2005, as a replacement for the iPod Mini, usin ...

iPod classic The iPod Classic (stylized and marketed as iPod classic and formerly iPod Video or just iPod) is a discontinued portable media player created and formerly marketed by Apple Inc. There were six generations of the iPod Classic, as well as a sp ...

and

iPod Touch The iPod Touch (stylized as iPod touch) is a discontinued line of iOS-based mobile devices designed and marketed by Apple Inc. with a touchscreen-controlled user interface. As with other iPod models, the iPod Touch can be used as a music pl ...

Podium Sans has been replaced with

Helvetica Neue Helvetica (originally Neue Haas Grotesk) is a widely used sans-serif typeface developed in 1957 by Swiss typeface designer Max Miedinger and Eduard Hoffmann. Helvetica is a neo-grotesque design, one influenced by the famous 19th century (1890s) ...

Bold, the same typeface used throughout the iPhone user interface.

References

Apple Inc. typefaces Humanist sans-serif typefaces

See also

References