Helvetica Vs. Arial and How to tell the Difference

[AlphaNerd3]

Reminds me of the xkcd strip about kerning (#1015).

[Tundraboy05]

the 1 in arial looks retarded

[OhHiAndie]

"I remember when I had a girlfriend."

Well, there goes my faith in womankind. If we can't find the appeal in font nerdery, yet guys like those in that Jersey Shore show keep getting girls, then... *sigh* All hope is lost.

Speaking of font nerdery, I found this website game just now, called Cheese Or Font. It's pretty entertaining.

[nemothehobofish]

i don't know why i found this so interesting but i did :)

[RogueBlueJay]

@nemothehobofish Well I'm glad. I hope it opens up your world in the way it did mine.

[nemothehobofish]

@RogueBlueJay it certainly did so thankyou. i tried to explain this to my friends but i guess i dont have the ruggish charm to pull it off. (also i had a bit of a fan girl moment when you replied to this)

[MogalyBogal]

i remember stalking a blond guy in a pacman hoodie around waterloo station for a bit in mid july because i had time to kill and i like the hoodie, this was before i subscribed to you, i am now worried i accidentally stalked you

[RogueBlueJay]

@MogalyBogal That was very very possibly me. God. I love London. It's such a small big city, you know?

[Nannirk]

Haha. I didn't realise this about Helvetica and Arial. Now I know.

Anyway, what software do you use for editing? I'd like to be able to blur people's faces.

[RogueBlueJay]

@Nannirk Final Cut Pro on a Mac. Are you on a PC or a Mac?

[Nannirk]

@RogueBlueJay Hey, hey, don't be racist. Mac's are PC's too. But I'm on a Faildows computer. Sometimes I use Ubuntu, though. And that's kind of like Mac, only not at all. :P

[RogueBlueJay]

@Nannirk Actually, the term PC used to refer to IBM PC, so if you want to get REALLY technical, neither are PCs.

As for windows, I'm pretty sure that you need Adobe After Effects to blur faces. Sony Vegas might be able to do it, but somehow I doubt it.

[Nannirk]

@RogueBlueJay Fair enough. But when I say PC I mean personal computer. So there.. Or something.

Yeah, I've got Pinnacle Studio HD 14 Ultimate Collection. It works, was fairly cheap, and it came with a green screen. (yay) I'll figure it out if I ever need it. Thanks, though.

[RogueBlueJay]

@Nannirk Right, you should read the wikipedia article for IBM Personal Computer, that way you can feel superior and stuff when your friends say "every computer is a PC!"

Also. I want a green screen so much, but it's more about how you light it than the actual 'screen'

[Nannirk]

@RogueBlueJay Maybe I will. I've never tried anything greenscreeny.

[thatoddguywithaface]

In a weird way, I feel like an accomplice in your casual sodomizing of a giant lion... it feels so wrong.... and yet so right

[Nerdzareprettytoo]

I really never...ever needed to see you do that...

[ForgetTheLie]

somewhere out there, a hipster is watching this video now knowing what font to use

[howmanyX]

Your beginning was very surprising and made me giggle :) Think I could seduce someone with my new-found knowledge of typefaces? And the lion.. the lion... you humped a lion with children and their PARENTS watching?! Wow. :D

[RhondaAnaconda123]

I hadn't heard of Helvetica, so i thought you were going to play Spot the Difference with mermaids or summat. :P

[bridgetisadreamer]

I never really understood the differences between these o.O I'm now fascinated! thanks for introducing me to a part of word intricacies that I didn't need to know but will love! lol. Also... Its good to know that lions get love too :)

[ThePruch]

I can't wait for school to start and annoy my teachers with this font knowledge. Awesome video!

[myfeetdontlikeshoes]

Why is Helvetica so widely used? Also, I like your jacket. Pacman is the best!

[RogueBlueJay]

@myfeetdontlikeshoes Its widely used because it is a very neutral font. Unlike say: comic sans which has an emotion attached to it, Helvetica can be used to say anything.

[angiegarland]

Have you seen the documentary, 'Helvetica'? I recommend it if you haven't!

[RogueBlueJay]

@angiegarland I haven't seen it in a while, but I did enjoy when I last saw it.

[GreekBandGeek]

Gotta love typography info and lion statue humping.

[Kanawari]

You know, the other day I saw "Helvetica" written on a shirt with comic sans. Best joke ever.

[RogueBlueJay]

@Kanawari I MUST HAVE THAT SHIRT.

[duckpondwithoutducks]

I have always had a preference for fonts with serifs myself.  Seriously.

[RogueBlueJay]

@duckpondwithoutducks You are the first person I have ever heard say that. Interesting.

[anmoose]

Just one question. Was the lion satisfied?..... :-P

[RogueBlueJay]

@anmoose Yes. Don't ask me how I know that.

[joehasaface]

The lion-humping cinematography was beautiful. Such a weird day.

[nickybcrazy97]

You are kind of brilliant. And you also spoiled all my childhood memories of climbing on those lions. Ah well, they're funnier now. :)

[culbrethcow]

you know, some girls actually find it really attractive when guys can tell the difference between helvetica and arial...

[RogueBlueJay]

@culbrethcow hahahhahahaha, if a girl ever says that to me IRL, I will know I've found the one. :D

[TheNicoleMarion]

For my senior year in high school, I was the yearbook editor. Typefaces were a huge part of what I had to do. Even now, all of my friends think I'm crazy for pointing out (and naming by name [including ones that don't come preloaded on computers]) all of the fonts that are used on signs and things.

[skintc]

Your interest in fonts reminds me of Brick from The Middle. You should start whispering words to yourself.

[RogueBlueJay]

@skintc I love malcolm in the middle, seen every episode but I cannot remember this character. Can you recommend an episode for me to watch tonight?

[skintc]

@RogueBlueJay I love MITM too, but I was talking about a show called "The Middle." From the same people who made MITM, but a different family. Not quite as amazing, but still very good and very funny. You should check it out. PS - Best EVER episode of Malcolm, the one where their neighbour (Hayden Panettiere *hawt*) convinces Malcolm and Reese that they're gay. Episode is called Pearl Harbor. Season 6 Ep 4. Hilarious.

[RogueBlueJay]

@skintc Eeep. I guess I read The Middle and my mind filled in the rest. that sounds really really interesting. I'll check it out (currently am watching Parker Lewis Can't Loose. Tis awesome.)

[Agriking]

Surprise butt sex with a giant lion in front of little children? I have no words.

[girlwithaphonebox]

Thank you for the NSFW warning, my dad was watching over my shoulder.

[ImJustFelix]

YouTube uses Helvetica

[RogueBlueJay]

@ImJustFelix It's close, but it's not quite helvetica it's actually Alternate Gothic No. Two. 

[RogueBlueJay]

@RogueBlueJay (Talking about the YouTube logo there) the typeface on the site is Arial.

[fizzylimon]

The easiest difference for me is the capital R's. Helvetica's has a cute lil' swoosh on the bottom and Arial's just sticks out awkwardly.

Also I like to play a game called "that's Helvetica." It's EVERYWHERE but no one believes me.

Also also, I don't know if anyone else has mentioned this, but Karen Kavett (@xperpetualmotion) is actually a typography expert and once made a video where she outlined a bunch of major typefaces and styles you can/should recognize.

[RogueBlueJay]

@fizzylimon I love Karen Kavett. She's the best.

[Maddog53]

Your videos continue to get better and better. I eagerly await each one. And yes it is slightly creepy that you were filing little kids in a park. At least it was with two hand. Right?

[shoppinggirl125]

Great episode! I can talk about typography all day. :)

[NickGreyden]

Your Epilogue and Epi-Epilogue was helvetica.... and I blame you for me pausing to find out.

[RogueBlueJay]

@NickGreyden I mostly use Helvetica, or nowadays a new one called "Love ya like a sista" It's very relaxed.

[TheScarfingAndrew]

You're humping BananaNeil, how nice… I actually did find this video uselessly awesome. I've got to tell my friends! ;)

[RogueBlueJay]

@TheScarfingAndrew hahahhahhahah NICE.

[Minish]

I could never bring myself to hump a lion's arse in public.

You win all things.

I use Arial. Helvetica is too mainstream.

[youvebeenvloged]

I don't really use helvetica that much *looks at comment* GOD DAMN IT

[RogueBlueJay]

@youvebeenvloged Have another look. You're using Arial, but it is difficult to tell the difference sometimes.

[youvebeenvloged]

@RogueBlueJay yeah it's just so small I can bearly see i on here. It's easier on your big fancey you tube box

[RogueBlueJay]

@youvebeenvloged You got that right. Also, it's easier to see everything from this high horse I'm on.

[youvebeenvloged]

@RogueBlueJay Really because I would of thought being far away would make it harder

[reianaisawesome]

Even though helvetica is gorgeous I find it way to overused :) I'll probably use it until I can find a better one :)

[RogueBlueJay]

@reianaisawesome I'm realising this. I have one or two friends who love fonts, and I've decided I'm going to pester them to tell me all the fonts. I want to always have the right font for the right situation.

#NerdAlert.

[saltrox]

The end killed me. "You probably had to be there..."

And I was.

It's even more hilarious on film. With the music and the changing camera angles and the fact that I can remember all the people who ended up trying not to look at you while you did it. Ah, gatherings *sighs wistfully*

[inexplicablyNic]

informative and entertaining as usual :-P Are you gonna be at SitC?

[RogueBlueJay]

@inexplicablyNic I will be at SitC! (still trying to figure out how we ended up with that capitalisation though!)

[inexplicablyNic]

@RogueBlueJay cool, me too! It's 'cause it's a title, "Summer in the City", I swear I've seen it that way before somewhere, maybe...lol

[RogueBlueJay]

@inexplicablyNic Totally.

[SamanthaJSylva]

Ahhh ... now I will be super analyzing everything .. reminds me of going back to high school english :)

[BenBuffone]

Even though I'm really interested in Graphic Design, that was the dullest video I've ever watched.

[RogueBlueJay]

@BenBuffone Yeah, sorry about that. I thought that it was a little bit, "and this is like this, and the next one is like this." I guess I find the idea that so much effort went into the things we see everyday, right down to typeface design. Did you watch it through to the end? Because there are some immature jokes that I think are rather amusing (not to do with typography.)

What kind of graphic design are you into? It's a field I think is really interesting, but my photoshop skills STINK.

[RogueBlueJay]

@BenBuffone Also: sorry. Wall of text, but the people who say critically negative things about my videos tend to be honest, interesting people. I really value negative comments... Well, when they aren't LOL UR A FAGGGGGg

[TheL1ttleGuy]

Thank you for being one of the few people who actually cares about the difference. I appreciate that, and this video was very useful =] =]

[johnetie]

Oh the poor children! Exposed to your latent cross species deviancy.

[milliej080]

I love how none of the children batted an eyelid at you 'making love' to the lion. Ahh.

[RogueBlueJay]

@milliej080 Innocence is fun...

[CanIFrenchTheLlama]

Humpy Hank.

[RogueBlueJay]

@CanIFrenchTheLlama Exactly. 

[tallatstarbucks]

On compulsively noticing something now that you know a little bit about it--I do that with sounds. I've taken a few phonetics classes so I know exactly where my tongue moves when I make a k or a p or an a sound, for example, so now I notice where my tongue moves while I'm speaking. It's a bit weird.

[RogueBlueJay]

@tallatstarbucks I love the little obsessions intellectually curious people get. Adam Savage calls himself a jack of all trades, master of none. Then he completes the phrase: but most always better than a master of none. Just so cool. Makes you a really well rounded person.

Also, your glasses video is really really interesting. Subscribing :)

[rschuerer]

Ali what are you doing with this lion? xD

I knew that Helvetica is only available on Macs per default, but I didn't knew what are the differences to Arial. This maybe really helpful for me.

[RogueBlueJay]

@rschuerer It's similar enough that only someone who has gone out of there way to know the difference would know. Interestingly there is a lot of speculation that Microsoft wanted a knock off of helvetica, and thats why the two typefaces are so similar. GOD it's so INTERESTING! (Nerd alert!)

[faraoseth]

@RogueBlueJay I am not going to comment on your grammatical mistake. I loved this video though!

[RogueBlueJay]

@faraoseth I'm 100% not a grammar nerd, but rereading it I can see the mistake (or more) in that post.

Actually, Jesus, rereading it, it's a grammatical mess, but I guess I don't really think about comments before I post them. DAMN WORLD!

[faraoseth]

Yeah, I just see those things because I speak a different language IRL, and that's why I always look at it. Thanks for being not offended by it, personally I like being corrected, because then I might never do it again. But, like I said: great video, don't know when/why I subscribed to you, are you by any chance a nerdfighter?

[RogueBlueJay]

@faraoseth Yup, also we both subscribe Mickeleh, Crabstickz and Dan Brown, all of which I know a little bit. I hate that, when someone pops up in your subbox, and they seem nice, but you don't know who they are. @EmilyTheBravee was like that to me for AGES. Turned out she was the other half of a collab channel, and I met her at VidCon.

[RockinBlueWit]

OH MY GOD XD I WAS NOTTTT EXPECTING THAT

[TheRydog100]

To contribute to the font discussion, my favorite standard font has always been Helvetica. But if I can get a bit extravagant, I love Aktiv Grotesk. It's just really clean, easy to read, and simple.

[RogueBlueJay]

@TheRydog100 I'm actually going off helvetica... I haven't found a better font yet, but I think that for essays it can feel a little bit disjointed... I still think it looks BEAUTIFUL when it's large though. The details.... Just awesome. @EmilyTheBravee put me onto a new font that I now use for my banner which is really laid back. Helvetica is a little bit buisnessy.

I don't know, I've REALLY overthought it.

[crimsong19]

Excellent, Ali!

"All those wasted hours ..." Unintentional Arcade Fire reference? ;)

ALI! QUIT METAL LION HUMPING!

- Jason

[JoinTheMadVender]

I'm a bit of a font geek, but I usually ignore fonts unless it's a particularly pretty (or outrageously hideous) typeface.

(Or unless I recognize the font but can't recall the name, in which case I'll be forced to think about it until I do remember the name.)

I do angrily shake my fist and complain, every time I spot Comic Sans. :P

(Unless it's appropriately used, which never happens. xD)

[lucyaliceee]

Yes, you REALLY had to be there. I was there, and yet it was still strange!

[homefreylf]

All those hours weren't wasted! I am deeply impressed by your differentiation skills :)

[FilmmakerMichael]

This means the video title is written in Arial...am i right?

[RogueBlueJay]

@FilmmakerMichael Yup :)

[FilmmakerMichael]

@RogueBlueJay You learn something new everyday! cheers Ali!

[TheRydog100]

You forgot the c in the title.

[RogueBlueJay]

@TheRydog100 EEep. Thanks :D

[poppycorn146]

Of course it had to be MICHAEL that pointed out that you were watching children fondling a lions butt. I mean, who else would it be...

And he got his hand in the way too, the cheek! :P

[TimH078]

Haha so mega original. You find the oddest things to talk about dude, but it works!

[alaninnh]

I don't have the Helvetia font in my Microsoft Office Word but I don't like to use Arial because the upper case i and the lower case L are the same, as demonstrated here: I l

[RogueBlueJay]

@alaninnh PC users can download it, it costs money though so unless you are into piracy...

[tamescorpion]

so i can now tell two common fonts apart.

and i've seen a huge statue getting molested.

these experiences will certainly enrich my life.

thank you ^^

but seriously, orgasm face infront of all the little kids.

kinda daring, i liked it.

[XschizoidbutterflyX]

slanty slanty

[RogueBlueJay]

@XschizoidbutterflyX That may be my favourite thing in this video (I know it's my video, but still.)

[GillianisAslan]

I had no idea that this was such a big debate.

[RogueBlueJay]

@GillianisAslan Yeah, graphic designy people are really into typography. There is a movie called Helvetica, and it is amazing how much thought goes into something we see everyday.

[emilythebravee]

This is why we're friends.

[RogueBlueJay]

@emilythebravee This is true. I went through a phase of being a MASSIVE font geek. So freaking cool. What other fonts do you like?

[emilythebravee]

@RogueBlueJay Oh jeez. My favorites right now are Pee Pants Script (awesome name), Mon Bijoux, Helivetidoodle (like Helvetica, but doodle-y!), and Fineliner Script.