Big Ugly Fonts: Arial

This is the first post in a new series here on Frivolous Motion called Big Ugly Fonts.

The first on the chopping block is our old friend Arial.

Arial, designed in 1982 for Monotype Typography, is widely used on modern computers, and is quite commonly found on web pages, due to it being “bundled” with both Windows and Mac operating systems.

Letting the typeface speak for itself, this is what’s embedded in the OpenType file:

Contemporary sans serif design, Arial contains more humanist characteristics than many of its predecessors and as such is more in tune with the mood of the last decades of the twentieth century. The overall treatment of curves is softer and fuller than in most industrial style sans serif faces. Terminal strokes are cut on the diagonal which helps to give the face a less mechanical appearance. Arial is an extremely versatile family of typefaces which can be used with equal success for text setting in reports, presentations, magazines etc, and for display use in newspapers, advertising and promotions.

Much controversy surrounds this ubiquitous typeface, with the bulk of it stemming from Microsoft deciding not to license the much higher-quality Helvetica (with whom it shares nearly identical glyph width, weight, and proportion) for use in its Windows operating system. Arial is a poor knock-off, a double-copy, in fact, as it was originally designed as a slightly modified (to be more screen-readable) version of Monotype Grotesque.

One look at Arial’s uppercase R confirms suspicions that this typeface was vomited up by Helvetica’s quadriplegic, ADHD, paranormal schizophrenic little sister.

Check out this horrific font in giganticized glory below. Just try not to vomit on your keyboard.




In conclusion: Millions of Helvetica characters have been eradicated by this abomination.

Don’t be a Helveticaust denier.

Stop using Arial!