The style of the 90s included plenty of color and wacky designs. FF Meta (designed by Erik Spiekermann) was born in this time period and has been referred to as the Helvetica of the 90s. The main innovation of FF Meta is its ability to overcome all of the shortcomings of Helvetica, all while staying readable and usable in corporate settings.
Helvetica was designed for a “best case” use scenario – large printing sizes, not digital (as this did not exist yet), printing on high quality paper, and no space constraints. Meta on the other hand is more versatile and preferable for web pages which had just gained traction in the 90s with the World Wide Web going public.
Spiekermann opted for narrow letters, to save space, and strokes that are thin enough to counter the tendency of characters to run into each other but thick enough to ensure legibility. FF Meta is easy to read when printed very small on things such as postage stamps but also appropriate for use on mailboxes and trucks.