# What is this font called? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 8, 2022, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-font-called/965885 "2022-06-08T15:52:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![LynnM](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b2d939/32.png) [@LynnM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LynnM)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2022, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-font-called/965885/1 "2022-06-08T15:52:59Z")
What is this font called? It’s a combination of big/small uppercase+lowercase–Tried to copy/paste it here, but doesn’t paste as it looks– –EDITED: must click link to go to page– > **[Proton Mail — Get a private, secure, and encrypted email](https://proton.me/mail)** > > Proton Mail is the world’s largest secure email service with over 70 million users. Available on Web, iOS, Android, and desktop. Protected by Swiss privacy law. Wondering what the design rationale is for this–apparently someone thinks it looks good? ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2022, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-font-called/965885/2 "2022-06-08T15:57:49Z")
What are you looking at? Nothing on that page seems odd to me, typography-wise. I can’t find this mix of cases you mention. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2022, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-font-called/965885/3 "2022-06-08T15:58:43Z")
I’m not seeing such a font either, in Firefox. ETA there is a logo with a chunk taken out of the “P” in Proton, which is an (old) textbook way of making it “futuristic”, but that’s not what you described. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2022, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-font-called/965885/4 "2022-06-08T15:59:34Z")
This is what I see: [https://www.peterpawinski.com/font.png](https://www.peterpawinski.com/font.png) The “header” font (“Secure email that protects …”) looks like Optima to me (ETA: Wait, it’s not Optima. That font doesn’t have that hook on the tail of the “y”. Pretty darned close to “Septimus,” though, without being an exact match.) The “Proton” is some geometric sans-serif a la Century Gothic, but it’s not Century Gothic. Looks like the P, at least, is stylized as a logo, but I don’t know if the rest is based on an existing font or not (look for the tell-tale “n” there.) ---
**Author:** ![LynnM](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b2d939/32.png) [@LynnM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LynnM)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2022, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-font-called/965885/5 "2022-06-08T16:05:58Z")
Thanks for replies–Must be my browser? The font displays for me as a combination of lower-and-uppercase–for example: tHat yOUR PRIVaCy …also, lowercase “e” is as large as uppercase– If you’re not seeing this, must be old-version Firefox rendering it this way–in addition, I tried to copy/paste it here, but it pastes looking “normal”– Thx again– ---
**Author:** ![Pork\_Rind](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pork_rind/32/111_2.png) [@Pork\_Rind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pork_Rind)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2022, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-font-called/965885/6 "2022-06-08T17:30:54Z")
When it renders correctly, as per @pulykamell’s screen grab, it’s Arizona Flare Light, identified by digging through the CSS. > **[Arizona](https://abcdinamo.com/typefaces/arizona)** > > DINAMO is a Swiss type design agency offering retail and bespoke typefaces, design software, research, and consultancy. Founded in Basel, we operate via a network of satellite members across the globe. ---
**Author:** ![SmartAleq](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smartaleq/32/163_2.png) [@SmartAleq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmartAleq)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2022, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-font-called/965885/7 "2022-06-08T17:34:11Z")
Back in BBS days we called that upper/lowercase alternating style “Psycho Chicken” and it was meant derisively. Looks like in many venues it’s still got the same denotation without having carried the name along with. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2022, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-font-called/965885/8 "2022-06-08T17:46:39Z")
> [@Pork\_Rind](#): > > When it renders correctly, as per @pulykamell’s screen grab, it’s Arizona Flare Light, identified by digging through the CSS. Ah, thanks. I dug through the CSS and saw “Arizona,” but couldn’t match it to an existing font on a cursory internet search. How did you get the “Flare Light” part? I didn’t see it using the Chrome Inspector, but I don’t dig like that often, so may not have known where to look. ---
**Author:** ![tofor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tofor/32/13727_2.png) [@tofor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tofor)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2022, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-font-called/965885/9 "2022-06-08T17:47:49Z")
To demonstrate what you’re seeing, try taking a screenshot and uploading it to imgur. ---
**Author:** ![Pork\_Rind](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pork_rind/32/111_2.png) [@Pork\_Rind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pork_Rind)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2022, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-font-called/965885/10 "2022-06-08T17:58:49Z")
Once I got the hit on Arizona in the CSS, I wimped out and just looked at the example text on their site. Typing “Secure email” into the sample area confirmed it. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2022, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-font-called/965885/11 "2022-06-08T18:10:46Z")
Ah. I found the website, too, but I guess I didn’t dig deep enough into it to find it. ---
**Author:** ![TroutMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troutman/32/6721_2.png) [@TroutMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroutMan)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2022, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-font-called/965885/12 "2022-06-08T21:59:12Z")
> [@SmartAleq](#): > > Back in BBS days we called that upper/lowercase alternating style “Psycho Chicken” and it was meant derisively. Looks like in many venues it’s still got the same denotation without having carried the name along with. Yeah, it’s a common way now to [suggest sarcasm and mocking with text.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alternating_caps) I hadn’t heard the “Psycho Chicken” term before, but it’s somehow fitting. It was really popularized by a meme with SpongeBob Squarepants a few years ago. I assume it’s coincidental, but the image is from a clip where SpongeBob is pretending to be a chicken. > **[Mocking SpongeBob](https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/mocking-spongebob)** > > Mocking SpongeBob refers to an image macro of cartoon character SpongeBob SquarePants in which people use the picture of SpongeBob to indicate a mocking tone towards an opinion or point of view. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2022, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-font-called/965885/13 "2022-06-08T23:15:45Z")
SpongeBob is several decades late to that party. Your own link explains it was already quite popular by the 1980s (maybe that’s long enough for it to get unpopular, then popular again, like bell-bottoms). ---
**Author:** ![Lare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/53a042/32.png) [@Lare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lare)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2022, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-font-called/965885/14 "2022-06-09T00:09:56Z")
Seems like already answered, but I once used [Fontsquirrel](https://www.fontsquirrel.com/matcherator) to identify a font from an image. ---
**Author:** ![jjakucyk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/3d9bf3/32.png) [@jjakucyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjakucyk)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2022, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-font-called/965885/15 "2022-06-09T13:15:55Z")
[Identifont](http://www.identifont.com) has been around forever (and it looks it), but I always found it to be a great resource. Their “fonts by appearance” wizard walks you through various questions to narrow it down to (hopefully) the right font. If you only have a few words you can enter those so it doesn’t ask you about letters/numbers that you don’t know. ---
**Author:** ![Pork\_Rind](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pork_rind/32/111_2.png) [@Pork\_Rind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pork_Rind)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2022, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-font-called/965885/16 "2022-06-09T14:37:30Z")
There’s also [whatthefont.com](http://whatthefont.com). Their deal is they can analyze an uploaded photo of a typeface to find a match. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2022, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-font-called/965885/17 "2022-06-09T15:51:15Z")
> [@SmartAleq](#): > > Psycho Chicken Qu’est-ce que c’est? Clu-Clu-Clu-Clu, Clu-Clu-Clu-Clu-Clu-cluck ---
**Author:** ![LynnM](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b2d939/32.png) [@LynnM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LynnM)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2022, 12:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-font-called/965885/18 "2022-06-10T12:20:21Z")
This is it: [https://ibb.co/0Z56dhs](https://ibb.co/0Z56dhs) ---
**Author:** ![tofor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tofor/32/13727_2.png) [@tofor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tofor)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2022, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-font-called/965885/19 "2022-06-10T12:41:01Z")
Wow. All I can say is that it’s weird. ---
**Author:** ![SanVito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sanvito/32/2805_2.png) [@SanVito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanVito)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2022, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-font-called/965885/20 "2022-06-13T14:52:33Z")
> [@Pork\_Rind](#): > > There’s also [whatthefont.com](http://whatthefont.com). Their deal is they can analyze an uploaded photo of a typeface to find a match. Even better, ‘what the font’ have a Google plug in which allows you to directly identify fonts in browsers. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-font-called/965885.md?page=2)