Typeface Design for Are.na
A new typeface designed to feel almost unchanged.
Dinamo created Areal as a bespoke replacement for the Arial typeface long used by Are.na. Based on web-era Arial v2.82, it was redrawn from archival screenshots and expanded with variable, mono, semi-mono, ligature, and dark-mode capabilities before being released free to the public.
Insights
- The project treats continuity as a design decision: improve the interface’s typography while preserving the familiar silhouette that users associate with Are.na.
- Dinamo reconstructed web-era Arial 2.82 from screenshots obtained with computer archivists. Digital software, rather than a printed specimen, became the revival’s starting point.
- The dark-mode axis reduces apparent stroke weight on dark backgrounds without changing character widths, so the optical adjustment can preserve the layout.
- Areal expands the system with Medium, ligatures and Mono/Semi Mono variants, giving the familiar forms a wider functional range.
- Releasing the family for free carries a bespoke interface project into broader use; the public release follows its earlier adoption by Are.na.
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