# Papyrus (typeface)

Papyrus is a typeface designed by Chris Costello, a graphic designer, illustrator, and web designer. Created in 1982 and released by Linotype, it 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 language texts would have looked like if written on papyrus 2,000 years ago. The following year, Costello released the font 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 [that] 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 (equivalent to $2,400 in 2023), and as of 2017, states he still receives "very low" royalty payments despite its inclusion since 1997 on all personal computers using a Mac or Microsoft operating system, or Microsoft Office. In any case, Costello claims "it was not my intent (for it) to be used for everything...it's way overused".

## Availability

Papyrus has been included in many Microsoft programs for Windows, including Microsoft Office. macOS includes Papyrus font as part of its basic installation (starting with version 10.3 Panther, released in 2003).

## Reception and use in popular culture

Over the years, Papyrus has gained infamy for its omnipresence in graphic design, usually in situations for which it was not intended. The criticism towards the typeface is similar to that of Comic Sans. In 2008, a website named "Papyrus Watch" was created for documenting the typeface's ubiquity and misusage.
In the webcomic XKCD a character annoys a "typography geek" by giving her a birthday card printed in Papyrus.
In the movie Avatar, standard Papyrus is used in the subtitles, and a modified version is used for the film's title. Its use in the film was highlighted in a 2017 Saturday Night Live sketch titled "Papyrus," featuring Ryan Gosling, which also claimed that it was widely used for Shakira merchandise, hookah bars, and off-brand tea companies. Jon Landau, the producer of both Avatar films, claims that the sketch helped to keep Avatar relevant during production of the second film. In preparation for the expansion of the Avatar franchise, Avatar: The Way of Water saw the film series change to a proprietary font called Toruk; Papyrus is still used for subtitles. Following the release of The Way of Water, Gosling starred in a second Saturday Night Live short called "Papyrus 2" wherein he discovers that despite the sequel's enormous budget, the typeface has merely been changed to bold.
Undertale features a skeleton named Papyrus, whose dialogue is written in the font. His brother Sans is written in a similarly infamous typeface, Comic Sans.