---
title: "Arial (1982) — Robin Nicholas and Patricia Saunders"
description: "Arial was designed by Robin Nicholas and Patricia Saunders in 1982. What it signals, where you have seen it, and how to tell it from Helvetica."
url: https://atoneplace.net/font/arial/
site: "At One Place"
---

# Arial

**Arial: Robin Nicholas and Patricia Saunders, 1982**

Sans-serif · A default. Something nobody chose.

Drawn at Monotype with the same widths as Helvetica so it could substitute for it without reflowing a document, which is the entire commercial logic: Microsoft could ship a Helvetica-compatible face without paying Linotype for Helvetica. Typographers' dislike of it is really a dislike of that origin. The letterforms it borrowed its details from are Monotype Grotesque, not Helvetica.

## How to tell it apart

| Mistaken for | Which letters to check |
| --- | --- |
| Helvetica | Capital R — straight angled leg on Helvetica, curved on Arial. Lowercase t — flat top on Helvetica, angled cut on Arial. Capital G — Helvetica has a spur, Arial does not. Terminals on C, S and e are horizontal on Helvetica and angled on Arial. |

## The facts

- **Designed by:** Robin Nicholas and Patricia Saunders
- **Released:** 1982
- **Classification:** Sans-serif
- **What it signals now:** A default. Something nobody chose.

## Where you have seen it

- Windows, since 3.1
- Google's logo until 2015 used a serif, but its interface used this for years

## Other typefaces from the 1980s

| Typeface | Year | Designer | What it signals |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Papyrus | 1982 | Chris Costello | A smoothie bar, a yoga studio, or Avatar. |
| Chicago | 1984 | Susan Kare | The original Macintosh, and the first iPod. |
| Trajan | 1989 | Carol Twombly | A film poster. Specifically a serious one, or a legal drama. |

> This page describes the typeface rather than showing it. Displaying a specimen requires a licensed font file and almost none of these may be redistributed, so the descriptions name the letters to look at instead.

## Common questions

### Who designed Arial?

Robin Nicholas and Patricia Saunders, in 1982.

### What is Arial used for?

A default. Something nobody chose. You will have seen it on Windows, since 3.1, Google's logo until 2015 used a serif, but its interface used this for years.

### What is the difference between Arial and Helvetica?

Capital R — straight angled leg on Helvetica, curved on Arial. Lowercase t — flat top on Helvetica, angled cut on Arial. Capital G — Helvetica has a spur, Arial does not. Terminals on C, S and e are horizontal on Helvetica and angled on Arial.

## Related pages

- [Helvetica](https://atoneplace.net/font/helvetica/)
- [Typefaces from the 1980s](https://atoneplace.net/font/decade/1980s/)
- [Akzidenz-Grotesk](https://atoneplace.net/font/akzidenz-grotesk/)
- [Franklin Gothic](https://atoneplace.net/font/franklin-gothic/)
- [Johnston](https://atoneplace.net/font/johnston/)
- [Futura](https://atoneplace.net/font/futura/)
- [Gill Sans](https://atoneplace.net/font/gill-sans/)
- [Helvetica](https://atoneplace.net/font/helvetica/)
- [Univers](https://atoneplace.net/font/univers/)
- [Optima](https://atoneplace.net/font/optima/)

## Sources

- Official vendor product documentation — At One Place (/about/)