Arial, sometimes marketed as Arial MT, is a typeface and a computer font packaged with Microsoft Windows, other Microsoft software applications, and many PostScript computer printers. The typeface was designed in 1982 by Robin Nicholas and Patricia Saunders for Monotype Typography as a cheaper substitute for (but not an identical copy of) Linotype's popular Helvetica. Many typographers regard it as a poor substitute for Helvetica, especially in print media.

Arial is also a typeface family comprising standard Arial (Arial Std) and variants, including Arial Black, Bold, Extra Bold, Condensed, Italic, Light, Medium, Monospaced, Narrow, and Rounded, plus combinations like Rounded Light and Extra Bold Condensed, and so on.

Design characteristics

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Embedded in version 3.0 of the OpenType version of Arial is the following description of the typeface: "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."

Though nearly identical to Helvetica in both proportion and weight (see figure), the design of Arial is in fact a variation of Monotype's Grotesque series, and was designed with computer use in mind. Subtle changes and variations have been made to both the letterforms and the spacing between characters, in order to make it more readable on screen and at various resolutions.

Distribution

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Arial was introduced as a TrueType font in 1990, and as a PostScript font in 1991. The TrueType edition has shipped as part of Microsoft Windows since the introduction of Windows 3.1 in 1992. Microsoft chose Arial over Helvetica as a cost-cutting measure.

Since 1999, Microsoft Office has shipped with Arial Unicode MS, a version of Arial that includes many international characters from the Unicode standard. This version of the typeface is the most widely distributed pan-Unicode font.

PostScript does not require support for a specific set of fonts, but Arial and Helvetica are among the 40 or so typeface families that PostScript level 3 devices typically support.PLR3 Supplement, appendix D (1999) and The Adobe PostScript 3 font set; accessed April 29, 2006.

Controversy

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While the inclusion of Arial with Windows has made it one of the most common typefaces in the world, it is controversial in typography circles. It is probably better known than Helvetica, but it is widely regarded by typographers as an inferior imitation, with none of the historic significance of the Swiss original."The Scourge of Arial" by Mark Simonson; accessed April 29, 2006.

See also

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• Core fonts for the Web

References

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External links

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• "The Scourge of Arial" and sidebar "How to tell Arial, Helvetica, and Grotesque apart" by Mark Simonson — the origins and distinguishing characteristics of Arial and its predecessors
• Arial font information (Microsoft typography)
• Arial Black font information (Microsoft typography)
• Downloadable version of Arial (Web core fonts)
• Downloadable version of Arial Black (Web core fonts)
• Helvetica vs. Arial, a Flash-based game

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