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Monday, May 21, 2007

Dubious history of Arial

This statement is written in Arial. Hope your browser will be able to display it
in the font I wanted it to be seen.

Arial, the font that is in use since Windows 3.x is one of the best fonts that come with Windows for use in different applications, along with Times New Roman, and Courier. Arial is one of the standard font that is widely used in business communication, be it email, memo, or a detailed project proposal. It is a no-nonsense, clean font that gives a professional feel and communicates seriousness.

But were it to be? A little of other stuff now.

Helvetica, a font designed by
Max Miedinger, turned fifty this year. This Swiss font since its release to mainstream usage fifty years back, had been the widely used in most of commercial communication - company logos, advertisements etc. because of its clean lines, proportionate dimensions and smooth curves. You couldn't imagine any graphics designer not aware of Helvetica, as it was the standard in design. Adobe's design products (e.g. PhotoShop) essentially bought the rights from Linotype (who owns this typeface) for bundling this font in their products; and so did Mac OS - widely used to run graphics rich applications. But so dit NOT, Windows.

Now back to the story of Arial. Didn't I use similar meaning words to describe Arial and Helvetica? You are right. I did. Because they indeed really are, as do so many other fonts. But with one difference. Arial was born out of Helvetica, because Microsoft did not like paying Linotype the required fee to use the font. So Arial came bundled with Microsoft's OS and because Microsoft's systems were pervasive, Arial became the default font for formal communication, displacing the much deserving Helvetica out of sight.

It is ironical that the brand Microsoft is created and still represented in Helvetica!

If it were not for Microsoft to reengineer Helvetica into Arial with almost no difference (find it if you can) I would have written a blog focussing on the history of Helvetica.

Here are some links you might want to use:

  1. http://www.ms-studio.com/articles.html
  2. http://www.helveticafilm.com/

1 comment:

அஸ்லம் கான் said...

Too much Arun.....any how nice info