Verdana must die for the good of the planet
by David. Average Reading Time: about 2 minutes.

If you’re using the Verdana typeface in your printed documents, stop now.
There is no need and it is helping destroy the planet.
Verdana takes up about 19% more horizontal space than Arial. So a switch away from Verdana could reduce your paper costs by up to 19%. For further savings, switch to duplex printing at the same time.
If you need a font designed for readability, try the granddaddy of readable fonts – Helvetica – or at a pinch Arial.
Back in the olden days of the interweb, we didn’t have nice big screens with fantastical resolutions. We didn’t have nicely anti-aliased, easily readable text. To fit enough information on a small screen, the fonts used were blocky and tiny. At small font sizes, text displayed in Arial typeface would huddle together and become difficult to read. Not Verdana, with it’s “generous width and spacing”. It was open and easy to read. Soon everyone wanted a bit of the action. All the sans-serif web pages started using Verdana it spread like a virus.
Roll forward to the present and it seems that 1200 pixels is now the minimum screen width that people have. With larger screens, the font can be larger and so easier to read. We no longer need such generosity in our width and spacing. A return to classic typography is due.
Actions
To make a difference, check through the list below and help eradicate Verdana font from the planet.
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Do not use Verdana in your web pages
- Simply don’t use it. Replace it with Helvetica or it’s bastard offspring Arial
- Educate your clients why its bad
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Change corporate identity guidelines. If you really, really, really, really have to use it on a website, have a print stylesheet which uses something else more elegant
Here’s how to add a separate print stylesheet:
<link rel="stylesheet" href="/print.css" type="text/css" media="print" />
Here’s the basic content for print.css:
body { font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; }Helvetica before Arial please. That’s the correct order.
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Do not use Verdana in reports, presentations etc
Verdana was designed as a screen font for small displays. It just doesn’t look good in printed material or displayed big on projectors.
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Remove it from your computer
- Remove it from your computer
- Remove it from all computers in your organisation
- Make sure that your base install image for new PCs in your organisation does not have the Verdana font included.
Further Reading
- Web Matters – Why you should avoid Verdana
- Text Font Readability Study
- Channel Verdana
- Verdana Pro (And Con) by Jeffery Zeldman (added 2011-06-09)

Nice Article, but still people prefer to use verdana because of its clarity and impact.
@Sanjeev: Thanks. Actually, helvetica is somewhat clearer – that’s why it’s used in so many more corporate logos and advertising campaigns than verdana.
Even Microsoft use helvetica for their logo – and they commissioned verdana!
If only there was a way to propogate Ecofont more readily …
http://www.ecofont.eu/ecofont_en.html
Oooh. Ecofont. The font with the holes. It looks rather an open typeface. Maybe we need a holey helvetica (Batman).
Regarding this:
“Roll forward to the present and it seems that 1200 pixels is now the minimum screen width that people have”
Please don’t forget the screens of mobile phones (which are becoming increasingly popular for browsing).
Finally, Helvetica looks absolutely terrible on most Linux systems
Helvetica looks like sh*t on the web in Windows. It also causes font name conflicts because of the plethora of versions, making some pages’ text all bold italic even if you have the regular weight installed. Please don’t use it.
What a load of quasi intellectual rot.
Gorgi: For small screens with really poor resolution, I’ll concede, we can always choose a different font.
Reason A Bubble: Thanks for your opinion. Made me smile
Verdana is a paper-wasting font! Reduce your paper use by 19% using Arial http://bit.ly/3g4m4S
Interesting: http://davidsimpson.me/2009/03/23/verdana-must-die-for-the-good-of-the-planet/
@dfresh411 Verdana is a bad idea for print http://j.mp/dbrL8N
Blog post title of the day: RT @dvdsmpsn Verdana must die for the good of the planet. http://bit.ly/dnmmYR
Verdana must die for the good of the planet. http://davidsimpson.me/2009/03/23/verdana-must-die-for-the-good-of-the-planet/
A couple of interesting articles via @joehonywill:
Verdana must die for the good of the planet http://bit.ly/9dmFbR
Why you should not use Verdana: http://davidsimpson.me/2009/03/23/verdana-must-die-for-the-good-of-the-planet/ (via @ruthenry)
I like Verdana better than Helvetica. I will continue to use it because it’s easier to read. Hoorray for variety!
[...] This comic seems to mirror my current experiences of seeing Helvetica everywhere and even dreaming about the typeface …. strange. Also … http://www.mimeartist.com/helvetica/ http://www.iliveonyourvisits.com/helvetica/# http://typewar.com/ I really like Verdana but I guess it’s supposedly bad. [...]
I work for a company which has 1 billion turnover a year, company policy is that every written word is verdana 10; emails, letters, memos etc. Every laptop issued is set up for Verdana 10. no way to change it! How much money would they save over a year from changing???
They could definitely save some cash — paper alone might do it.
This article suggests that Arial is less efficient for toner costs, but doesn’t consider paper.
Also check Tweak your typeface, save money on toner.