Arial

[Bobby H]

The squeezed versions are particularly annoying because there is an Arial Narrow option.

I think the tactic of these "designers" is to do as little scrolling in a font menu as possible. Arial is the default, so Arial is the choice for the layout! They might click the "B" button on the menu for "bold," or if they really want to put in a lot of effort they might select Arial Black in the font menu flyout.

The situation really aggravating these days considering there are so many other better options. Most graphics people have big collections of fonts that include far more versatile type families than Arial. Then if any type object needs to be squeezed or stretched a little or a lot there are plenty of OTF Variable fonts out there, some even for free. At the Google Fonts site there are OTF Var fonts like Archivo, Georama, Anybody, Saira, Roboto Flex and Roboto Serif (among others). Those have variable width axes along with the usual weight axis. The Anybody typeface can go really extreme from ultra compressed to very wide. Windows has the Bahnscrift variable typeface built-in; Segoe UI Variable is built into Windows 11. Adobe Illustrator has several variable fonts such as Acumin and (of course) Myriad.

I guess what needs to happen is Microsoft and Monotype need to create a variable version of Arial. But even if they did that it's very likely the people who've been artificially squeezing and stretching Arial won't bother to use the variable axis sliders. They'll just keep on doing what they've been doing with default Arial.

 

[Johnny Best]

Arial was put on all the Microsoft Windows, Have never owned a Windows machine so I never used it. When I would come across it on a design I would just replace it with Helvetica. Arial has a cheap Dollar Store look to me. I also prefer Univers over it.

 

[Texas_Signmaker]

I forgot about Cooper Black... man did I make a ton of signs with that. Helvetica Neue is my preferred "regular" font... so many weights to choose from.

Can I admit I still use Impact??

 

[Bobby H]

Arial was put on all the Microsoft Windows, Have never owned a Windows machine so I never used it.

Microsoft did commission Monotype to create Arial so they could avoid paying what Linotype wanted to license Helvetica into the Windows OS. But are you suggesting Arial does not come pre-loaded in Apple computers and mobile devices? OSX includes several styles of Arial, Arial Narrow and Arial Hebrew. iOS and iPadOS don't include Arial Narrow, but do have the basic styles of Arial and Arial Hebrew.

System Fonts - Fonts - Apple Developer

developer.apple.com

If I really wanted to do so I could install Arial Black and Arial Narrow on my iPad Pro. But I just don't feel like doing that.

When I would come across it on a design I would just replace it with Helvetica. Arial has a cheap Dollar Store look to me. I also prefer Univers over it.

Agreed about the cheap dollar store look. It's just a harsh, awkward looking type design. One of the things driving my prejudice against Arial is that it is used so often on cheap, poorly designed signs, banners and other stuff stuck on the commercial landscape. Squeezing and stretching of the letters is common. Horrid type combinations are common too. One guy that used to design a lot of signs and banners in the Lawton area just loved combining Arial, Brush Script and Serpentine Bold together in the same layout. That's like pouring barbeque sauce on ice cream and then putting it your lawn mower's fuel tank. Beyond illogical.

I'll also do the editing trick of switching out Arial with Helvetica when having to re-create customer supplied artwork. Most of the time I can get away with it. Some customers just insist on using Arial in their sign work because it's on their computer. Univers is a pretty decent sans typeface. But I think I seem to use it most often for fuel product sign labels for convenience store signs.

Can I admit I still use Impact??

I think Impact is getting worn out by being the default meme typeface. I also frequently see it badly misused in horrid sign designs -one frequent goof is some hack selecting Impact in the font menu and then stretching the type object about 400% of its normal width. Freaking terrible.

 

[garyroy]

I hope I'm not making any enemies, I kind of like Arial and its iterations.

 

[caribmike]

LOl...Arial! I never imagined that I have over 10,000 fonts and need a font management program to keep track of them all!

 

[kcollinsdesign]

Before the internet and peer-to-peer sharing, font licenses were purchased by printers and typesetting companies. You couldn't just find a font on the internet and download it for nothing (note: most "free" fonts you find on the internet are not licensed for commercial work). With the advent of digital laser printing in the early '80s, relatively inexpensive printing devices were marketed to businesses (and eventually homes) which allowed them to create professional looking documents in-house. In an attempt to keep the prices reasonable (font licenses were, and are, expensive), manufacturers created their own fonts which they distributed with their printers. Arial, essentailly a copy of Helvetica with identical character widths so formatting doesn't change, was developed for an early IBM laser printer to avoid licensing fees.
It costs nothing to use Arial. A Helvetica (Neue Helvetica) complete desktop font license package (one workstation only for the creation of print documents, static images, and logo only – digital and broadcast licenses are seperate) license package will set you back around $450.00.
Note: for you newbies who have never known anything but digital type, it should be a comfort to know that the fonts that come with major operating systems and software packages will have end user licensing agreements (EULA). Check the EULA for specific restrictions. The consequences for using un-licensed fonts can be severe!

 

[Johnny Best]

I miss getting Upper and Lower Case newspaper back in the 70s.
I did work for Ad Agencies back then and they would give me copies of their font purchases.
Use to have to hand draw all the fonts for sign companies for blueprints to work off of to scale.
T square and triangles, compass, circle and ellipse templates were my consent companions, never liked french curves.

 

[Geneva Olson]

As an arial bold girl, I take offense!

I'm an impact girl myself.

 

[Johnny Best]

I thought you were this type.

 

[Bobby H]

note: most "free" fonts you find on the internet are not licensed for commercial work

That goes especially for fonts on the DaFont web site. I like the Font Squirrel web site; it offers free fonts that are licensed for commercial use. Consequently, there aren't as many fonts there to browse as there are at DaFont. As far as I can tell all the typefaces on the Google Fonts site are free/open source.

It costs nothing to use Arial. A Helvetica (Neue Helvetica) complete desktop font license package (one workstation only for the creation of print documents, static images, and logo only – digital and broadcast licenses are seperate) license package will set you back around $450.00.

The cost varies depending on which flavor of Helvetica someone wants. The MacOS and iOS bundle a decent number of Helvetica and Helvetica Neue styles. I've acquired several Helveti-clones, like Nimbus Sans or Swiss 721, via graphics application purchases. The full Neue Helvetica Pro package of 59 font files normally runs $438.99 at the MyFonts website, but right now it's priced at 50% off -$219.50 or $3.72 per style. The 1957 version (30 fonts) costs $438.99. New Haas Grotesk costs $328.99, but it can be synced via Adobe Fonts. Helvetica Now was priced at $99 when it was first introduced in 2019; the 48 font package is now $328.99. The 48 font condensed package is $273. Helvetica Now Variable (2 fonts) costs $548.99 or $328.99 per font file.

I try to keep an eye on the "what's new" and "hot new fonts" pages at MyFonts for important new type releases that are priced with deep discounts. Occasionally not as new type packages will go on sale, but it can take a lot of scrolling on the "special offers" page to find good deal

Usually when I'm well along in the process of designing a sign or some other kind of graphics work I tend to convert the type objects to outlines. If I need to port the graphics to a different medium, such as video, there won't be any type objects in the artwork, just raw vector outlines. There's nothing for licensing overlords to police there.

 

[Geneva Olson]

I thought you were this type.

hey koolaid

 

[Boudica]

I ordered the pitcher and cups when I was a kid - had to have my mom write a check to include with my collected UPC 's. I still have them!