Papyrus is a widely available typeface designed by Chris Costello, a graphic designer, illustrator, and web designer. Created in 1982, it was hand-drawn over a period of six months by means of calligraphy pen and textured paper. Papyrus has a number of distinctive characteristics, including rough edges, irregular curves, and high horizontal strokes in the capitals.
History and overview
Costello created the font in 1982 when he was 23 years old and just out of college. He had been studying the Bible and came onto the idea of what a written font would have looked like in biblical times in the Middle East. He hand-drew the font over a period of six months by means of calligraphy pen and textured paper. Costello described his goal as a font that would represent what English languagetexts would have looked like if written on papyrus 2,000 years ago. Costello released the font the following year alongside Letraset. Papyrus has a number of distinctive characteristics, including rough edges, irregular curves, and high horizontal strokes in the capitals. ITC, the current owner of the typeface, describes it as an "unusual roman typeface effectively merges the elegance of a traditional roman letterform with the hand-crafted look of highly skilled calligraphy". Costello sold the rights for the font for $750, and as of 2017, states he still receives "very low" royalty payments despite its inclusion since 2000 on all personal computers using a Mac or Microsoft operating system. In October 2017, Costello agreed that Papyrus had become overused.
Variants
An alternative font published by Elsner+Flake is Papyrus EF Alternatives, providing a slight variation to Costello's font. Its differences include a shorter, sharper capital P, a capital E with a top bar longer than the middle bar, and a swash A.
Availability
Papyrus has been included in many Microsoft programs for Windows. macOS includes Papyrus font as part of its basic installation.
The typeface was used for the subtitles that appear in James Cameron's 2009 movieAvatar, with a modified form used for the movie's title. In 2017, the use of Papyrus in Avatar was highlighted in a Saturday Night Live sketch featuring Ryan Gosling. The film's Disney+ release replaces Papyrus with another typeface. In the 2015 video gameUndertale, the character Papyrus is named after the font, and his dialogue is displayed in all caps Papyrus. He is paired with his brother Sans, himself named after the font Comic Sans.
