Candice Burg - Papyrus

Since its release in 1983 the font 'Papyrus' is considered an interesting font as it is recognised as being far too popular and overused for its own good. Its strokes follow a distinct pattern that proves to be useful for display types. Its design features include handcrafted rough edges, irregular curves as well as high horizontal strokes in the capitals, suitable to make anything look antique. It is described by its current owner ITC as an “unusual roman typeface [that] effectively merges the elegance of a traditional roman letterform with the hand-crafted look of highly skilled calligraphy.”

Papyrus letter formations.

The history of 'Papyrus' dates to the 1980's when designer and illustrator Chris Costello created this font by originally drawing old looking alphabets in different styles using a calligraphy pen and textured paper. For a period of six months it was originally hand drawn and he began writing words, dates and phrases from the history of the ancient Middle East in upper case lettering and soon came up with this vernacular writing. This was with the intent to create a typeface that represented the English language texts as if it was written on papyrus 2000 years ago. Papyrus, a thick paper like material is made from the pith of papyrus plant and the process originated in Egypt in ancient times. Since this type of font would have been originally written on Papyrus paper, Costello decided that this was the perfect name for it. Costello who is a graphic designer/illustrator/web designer works out of Boston, MA and is currently the creative director for Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage. With this historical background and intent for design the typeface was released in 1983 by Letraset and is now owned by ITC.

Papyrus paper.

Some examples of its use include:

• The subtitles that appear in James Cameron's 2009 movie Avatar and the logo of the movie itself

• The title of the television program The Crocodile Hunter

• Bottles of AriZona brand iced tea

• All of the album covers of the band Lamb of God (excluding their premiere album, Burn the Priest and 2009 studio album, Wrath) and much of the band's merchandise

• The logo of the Serenity in Serenity, the 2005 theatrical continuation of TV's Firefly.

Papyrus typeface in its commercial use.

Papyrus has become widely available and is included in many Microsoft programs for Windows and as part of the basic installation for Mac OS X. It has often been criticized for being misused or overused in various media. "Chris Costello, its designer, admits that the font should have come with this disclaimer: 'May be habit forming. Not responsible for overdose or inappropriate use of this product.'" Over the period of its publication Papyrus has become one of those typefaces that graphic designers love to hate.

REFERENCE LIST:
Bible Researcher, Papyrus 66, viewed 04 March 2012 http://www.bible-researcher.com/papyrus66.html.

Enotes (2012), Papyrus, viewed 03 March 2012, http://www.enotes.com/topic/Papyrus

Enotes (2012), Papyrus (typeface), viewed 03 March 2012, http://www.enotes.com/topic/Papyrus_(typeface).

Kent, V (2008), The History of Papyrus, Portland, OR, viewed 04
March 2012, http://www.eroi.com/fresh/2008/10/02/the-history-of-papyrus/.

Legacy Earlham (2004), Papyrus (5th Cent. B.C.E. - 8th Cent. C.E.)
viewed 04 March 2012, http://legacy.earlham.edu/~seidti/iam/papyrus.html.

Overthing it (2009), Hate the Avatar font? It Could be Worse,
viewed 04 March 2012, http://www.overthinkingit.com/2009/12/28/hate-the-avatar-font-it-could-be-worse/.

PrepPressure (2011), Papyrus, viewed 02 March 2012, http://www.prepressure.com/fonts/interesting/papyrus.

Slodive (2011), Papyrus Font Collection, viewed 04 March 2012, http://slodive.com/freebies/papyrus-font/.