Thursday, November 5, 2009
A post set in Arial
This post is set in Arial. This is Arial Bold Italic. Arial is another typeface with a somewhat dubious history. It's a cheap knock-off of the more classic and elegant Helvetica typeface. It was popularized by Windows in the early 90s when Microsoft opted for Arial instead of Helvetica to save on licensing fees. Windows' ubiquity and popularity led to a similar popularity for the Arial font, which Mark Simonson calls "little more than a shameless impostor" of Helvetica. A couple times every year I like to read about the origins of Arial v. Helvetica in articles like Simonson's "Scourge of Arial." Fonts like Helvetica and Arial are so flavorless and overused, they are the main reason I started making fonts, to make creative alternatives to these heartless, drab typefaces.
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Dafont.com is a site where you can download a ton of free fonts. You can search for a specific typeface, or search by the type of lettering you want, whether it’s serif or sans serif, hand lettered or grunge style. You can also put in your own phrase to see how it looks in a particular font. A lot of these fonts are very decorative and many are handdrawn, so it’s not always the best place to search for body text fonts. Each selection also tells you whether your download is free for personal or commercial use. The download is easy – you get a zip file with the font file inside. Unzip, install, and you’re ready to go.
ReplyDeleteDafont.com is a site where you can download a ton of free fonts. You can search for a specific typeface, or search by the type of lettering you want, whether it’s serif or sans serif, hand lettered or grunge style. You can also put in your own phrase to see how it looks in a particular font. A lot of these fonts are very decorative and many are handdrawn, so it’s not always the best place to search for body text fonts. Each selection also tells you whether your download is free for personal or commercial use. The download is easy – you get a zip file with the font file inside. Unzip, install, and you’re ready to go.
ReplyDelete