1
It’s long been thought that Arial is to Helvetica what the ugly step sister is to Cinderella. Helvetica was designed in Germany in the 1950s to compete with Akzidenz Grotesk; Arial was designed in America in the early 1980s, believed by many to be a move by Microsoft to supply a Helvetica-like font as part of its TrueType specification without acknowledging or paying royalties to Helvetica.
Be that as it may, to the untrained eye, the differences between the two fonts are negligible — largely due to the near identical widths. But to the savvy eye of the designer, there are dozens of subtle differences that leap off the page. For example, the ascender of Helvetica’s lowercase “t” is cut off straight, while Arial’s is cut at an angle; similarly, the terminals of the lowercase “s” and “c” in Helvetica run parallel to the baseline, whilst Arial’s run at near right-angles to the stroke.
The simplest way to tell the difference is to look at the characters as a whole and picture them as suits from their respective periods: Helvetica is sharper, with formal details; Arial is looser and less controlled.
But what would happen if everyday logos that were originally crafted in Helvetica were redone in Arial? Would the differences be easily recognizable or difficult to spot? To answer this question, David Friedman of Ironic Sans has devised a quiz featuring 20 popular Helvetica-based logos pictured side-by-side with an Arial version. Some differences are readily apparent, but others look shockingly similar.
Take the short quiz and see how well you do — be sure to share your results!
How well did you go on the quiz? What differences are most evident when comparing Helvetica and Arial? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.
How to Survive a Client Meeting When They Say ‘Make It Pop’!!!!
Fear not, for this guide will arm you with the tools and humor needed to navigate these meetings with style (and sanity) intact. 1. Master Your Facial Expressions First things…
3 Essential Design Trends, November 2024
It’s hard to believe the end of the year is right around the corner. That isn’t stopping website designers from trying new things to keep things interesting as we begin…
3 Essential Design Trends, October 2024
This article is brought to you by Constantino, a renowned company offering premium and affordable website design You have to get creative when you lack a strong visual. This month’s design…
3 Essential Design Trends, September 2024
September’s web design trends have a fun, fall feeling … and we love it. See what’s trending in website design this month. Excuse the pun, but let’s fall into some…
Turning Rejection into Fuel: Your Guide to Creative Resilience
Rejection sucks. And for some reason, it’s always unexpected, which makes it feel like an ambush. Being creative is about making yourself vulnerable, and that’s why rejection hurts so much….
3 Essential Design Trends, May 2024
Integrated navigation elements, interactive typography, and digital overprints are three website design trends making waves this month. Let’s take a look at each design trend with some fun examples. If…