Arial
Arial is a font packaged with several Microsoft Corporation applications. It was designed by Monotype as a cheaper substitute for Linotype's popular Helvetica. Helvetica was one of a number of typefaces that were mandated for printers that support Adobe's PostScript language. A user specifying Helvetica could be sure the printer would be able to output it. Microsoft didn't want to include Helvetica with Windows, and licensed Arial as a cost-cutting measure.
Though nearly identical to Helvetica in both proportion and weight, 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.
Arial has shipped with Microsoft Windows since the introduction of TrueType technology (licensed from Apple Computer) in Windows 3.1. TrueType itself was meant as a replacement for Type 1 fonts used in PostScript. Microsoft also tried to supplant PostScript itself with its own version of a printer description language, TrueImage.
The newest versions of Microsoft Windows also ship with Arial Unicode MS, a version of the typeface that includes many international characters from the Unicode standard. This version of the typeface is the most complete font in wide distribution, although even more complete fonts (like Bitstream Cyberbit or Code2000) exist.
The latest PostScript standard now includes Arial alongside Helvetica as a standard typeface, that PostScript level 3 devices should support.
Pronunciation
There has been some controversy about how Arial is correctly pronounced, and although people may be used to saying "air-ree-al" - they are incorrect. The way in which Warren pronounces it is completely wrong. The correct pronunciation is "are-ree-al".
See also
External links
- Fonts.com: Arial
- The Scourge of Arial — historical information on how Arial came to be
- How to tell Arial, Helvetica, and Grotesque apart
- PostScript 3 font set
- 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)