helvetica vs. arial

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which is better

Poll Results

Option	Votes
helvetica	40
arial	9

― deej, Thursday, 10 January 2008 03:38 (eighteen years ago)

COMIC SANS MS

― J0rdan S., Thursday, 10 January 2008 03:38 (eighteen years ago)

nah the answer is helvetica

― J0rdan S., Thursday, 10 January 2008 03:39 (eighteen years ago)

helvetica is correct answer

http://blog.sessions.edu/wp-content/uploads/2007/06/helvetica-vs-arial.jpg

― deej, Thursday, 10 January 2008 03:39 (eighteen years ago)

who would choose arial?

― webber, Thursday, 10 January 2008 03:39 (eighteen years ago)

i also like wingdings

― deej, Thursday, 10 January 2008 03:39 (eighteen years ago)

helvetica is not available in ms word for some reason

― deej, Thursday, 10 January 2008 03:40 (eighteen years ago)

Bill Gates. (xposts)

― libcrypt, Thursday, 10 January 2008 03:41 (eighteen years ago)

THE FUCK KINDA QUSTINO IS THIS

― sleep, Thursday, 10 January 2008 05:48 (eighteen years ago)

calibri

― electricsound, Thursday, 10 January 2008 05:49 (eighteen years ago)

QUESTION XPOST

― sleep, Thursday, 10 January 2008 05:50 (eighteen years ago)

QUSTINO is way better

― J0rdan S., Thursday, 10 January 2008 05:51 (eighteen years ago)

http://img229.imageshack.us/img229/6503/helveticavsarialli4.gif

― sleep, Thursday, 10 January 2008 05:55 (eighteen years ago)

helvetica, obv.

― Tape Store, Thursday, 10 January 2008 05:58 (eighteen years ago)

but i'm not going to vote.

― Tape Store, Thursday, 10 January 2008 05:59 (eighteen years ago)

God people obsess over this issue.

― libcrypt, Thursday, 10 January 2008 06:08 (eighteen years ago)

Akzidenz Grotesk

― dan selzer, Thursday, 10 January 2008 06:10 (eighteen years ago)

http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b361/tapestore/helv.jpg

― Tape Store, Thursday, 10 January 2008 06:13 (eighteen years ago)

http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b361/tapestore/Untitled-1copy.jpg

― Tape Store, Thursday, 10 January 2008 06:14 (eighteen years ago)

verdana >>>> arial narrow >>>>> *

― Autumn Almanac, Thursday, 10 January 2008 06:21 (eighteen years ago)

joek?

― jhøshea, Thursday, 10 January 2008 06:27 (eighteen years ago)

momusinhelveticashirt.jpg

― roxymuzak, Thursday, 10 January 2008 06:30 (eighteen years ago)

http://img179.imageshack.us/img179/3657/umaht1.png
http://img179.imageshack.us/img179/4285/umhiy4.png

― libcrypt, Thursday, 10 January 2008 06:56 (eighteen years ago)

I like the Arial lower-case 'r,' 'f,' and upper-case 'g' more. But I like the Helvetica upper-case 'R' more. I also like the Helevtica top-of-letter (forgot what these are called, tilde's?) stuff more, tho I rarely use them. I'm going with Arial.

― Mordechai Shinefield, Thursday, 10 January 2008 07:00 (eighteen years ago)

opinions about fonts ftw. :)

― Mordechai Shinefield, Thursday, 10 January 2008 07:01 (eighteen years ago)

has it come to this?

― roxymuzak, Thursday, 10 January 2008 07:01 (eighteen years ago)

lock down your arial!

― roxymuzak, Thursday, 10 January 2008 07:02 (eighteen years ago)

http://img212.imageshack.us/img212/7474/imageuploadimagexz3.jpg

― libcrypt, Thursday, 10 January 2008 07:03 (eighteen years ago)

for on-screen body text, there's Arial
for everything else, there's Helvetica

― blueski, Thursday, 10 January 2008 12:07 (eighteen years ago)

helvetica neue

― Tracer Hand, Thursday, 10 January 2008 12:08 (eighteen years ago)

having said that i read ILX in Helvetica because Firefox seems to render it much better than Arial for reasons i thought were beyond the type design differences. now i don't believe in nothing no more.

― blueski, Thursday, 10 January 2008 12:10 (eighteen years ago)

Gill Sans 'cause I like my typefaces designed by incestuous zoophiliac sexual abusers (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eric_Gill#Controversies)

― ledge, Thursday, 10 January 2008 12:19 (eighteen years ago)

Helvetica

although capital "G"s look weird in it

― abanana, Thursday, 10 January 2008 12:56 (eighteen years ago)

helvetica though i LOVE ARIAL TOO :(

― Surmounter, Thursday, 10 January 2008 14:15 (eighteen years ago)

I read this as "helvetica vs anal".

Anal > Helvetica > Arial fwiw.

― edwardo, Thursday, 10 January 2008 14:31 (eighteen years ago)

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

― ILX System, Saturday, 19 January 2008 00:01 (eighteen years ago)

I like Arial, I use it whenever I can (in typing papers).

― Abbott, Saturday, 19 January 2008 00:04 (eighteen years ago)

long as it's not Copperplate

― Morley Timmons, Saturday, 19 January 2008 01:07 (eighteen years ago)

EWW YUCK BANKER FONT SICKO YUCK ewww

― Abbott, Saturday, 19 January 2008 01:09 (eighteen years ago)

boldfaced Cheltanham

― Bo Jackson Overdrive, Saturday, 19 January 2008 02:00 (eighteen years ago)

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

― ILX System, Sunday, 20 January 2008 00:01 (eighteen years ago)

thanks for sorting that out, deej

― El Tomboto, Sunday, 20 January 2008 00:27 (eighteen years ago)

nine months pass...

http://www.onefloorup.com/2008/10/helvetica-monopoly.html

― ○◙i shine cuz i genital grind◙○ (roxymuzak), Sunday, 26 October 2008 17:02 (seventeen years ago)

sizzle!

― :::mee:::, Sunday, 26 October 2008 17:20 (seventeen years ago)

eww that's somehow disgusting

― s1ocki, Sunday, 26 October 2008 19:06 (seventeen years ago)

i like it but i'd prefer white on black

― Cittaslow Mazza (blueski), Sunday, 26 October 2008 19:08 (seventeen years ago)

agreed 100%

― ○◙i shine cuz i genital grind◙○ (roxymuzak), Sunday, 26 October 2008 20:48 (seventeen years ago)

I mis-read the thread title as "helvetica vs anal"

― snoball, Sunday, 26 October 2008 20:56 (seventeen years ago)

I read this as "helvetica vs anal".
Anal > Helvetica > Arial fwiw.
― edwardo, Thursday, 10 January 2008 14:31 (9 months ago)

― t_g, Sunday, 26 October 2008 21:47 (seventeen years ago)

Y'all be needin new glasses.

― Trayce, Sunday, 26 October 2008 23:20 (seventeen years ago)

one month passes...

http://www.aiga.org/content.cfm/the-mostly-true-story-of-helvetica-and-the-new-york-city-subway?pff=2

― GSOHSHIT (blueski), Friday, 28 November 2008 15:03 (seventeen years ago)

i rented "helvetica" last night but it wouldn't play :((((

― rent, Friday, 28 November 2008 18:00 (seventeen years ago)

You have to install the font first.

― fiscal liberal (kenan), Friday, 28 November 2008 18:15 (seventeen years ago)

Arial had its place before ClearType, because it really does look ok even when pixellated a bit, and Helvetica looks like doo-doo without good sub-pixel rendering. Whether MS used it for that reason or to avoid paying royalties is a matter of debate I suppose, but I wouldn't called Arial a cheap rip-off of Helvetica. Every typeface (I can think of) is based on another, and there's a strong case for Arial being purpose-built and well-thought-out. And let's face it, Microsoft's foundry is good at what they do. Not all their creations hit my sweet spot -- I could really do without Trebuchet MS, for instance -- but some of the new Vista fonts are excellent. Corbel, Segoe, Calibri... gotta give props where they're due.

― fiscal liberal (kenan), Friday, 28 November 2008 18:34 (seventeen years ago)

In other words, don't hate.

― fiscal liberal (kenan), Friday, 28 November 2008 18:34 (seventeen years ago)

Helvetica vs. Anal.

― sheepie (libcrypt), Saturday, 29 November 2008 00:43 (seventeen years ago)

both way overrated

― fiscal liberal (kenan), Saturday, 29 November 2008 00:45 (seventeen years ago)

What font makes the word "Arial" look most like the word "Anal"? Poll?

― fiscal liberal (kenan), Saturday, 29 November 2008 00:49 (seventeen years ago)

Any font that has no i and n and r swapped.

― sheepie (libcrypt), Saturday, 29 November 2008 00:58 (seventeen years ago)

http://www.100besteschriften.de/

― negotiable, Saturday, 29 November 2008 01:36 (seventeen years ago)

I do not read German so well.

But I do love Frutiger. I just zipped and sent my collection of it to my girlfriend yesterday, because she was in a font mood.

― fiscal liberal (kenan), Saturday, 29 November 2008 01:50 (seventeen years ago)

Watched the docu-film Helvetica last night, really enjoyed it. It's going to drive me mad, though, looking for fonts everywhere.

― Sick Mouthy (Scik Mouthy), Thursday, 11 December 2008 08:23 (seventeen years ago)

ten months pass...

a quiz!

http://www.ironicsans.com/helvarialquiz/index.php

― kingfish, Sunday, 8 November 2009 22:03 (sixteen years ago)

THE FUCK KINDA QUSTINO IS THIS

― sleep, Thursday, January 10, 2008 5:48 AM (1 year ago) Bookmark

― ian, Monday, 9 November 2009 05:06 (sixteen years ago)

19 of 20. I missed "Mattel". I don't feel too ashamed.

― tie me up, dress in drag, and read to me from the bible (kenan), Monday, 9 November 2009 05:35 (sixteen years ago)

capital A's and lowercase t's are easy to distinguish

― I'm gonna put on an iron burt, and chase stanton out of urt (Curt1s Stephens), Monday, 9 November 2009 09:55 (sixteen years ago)

i still prefer the arial G

http://www.ironicsans.com/helvarialquiz/target-arial.gif

― abanana, Monday, 9 November 2009 11:02 (sixteen years ago)

HERETIC(A)!

― George Mucus (ledge), Monday, 9 November 2009 11:08 (sixteen years ago)

berthold's Akzidenz-Grotesk a.k.a. "Standard" is my fave:

http://www.opps.cn/word/wp-content/uploads/2008/04/akzidenzgrotesk.gif

you can still see it on a few old signs in the NYC subway system

― Tracer Hand, Monday, 9 November 2009 11:42 (sixteen years ago)

capital A's and lowercase t's are easy to distinguish

How are capital A's easy to distinguish?

http://www.ironicsans.com/helvarialquiz/mattel-arial.gif
http://www.ironicsans.com/helvarialquiz/mattel-helvetica.gif

― tie me up, dress in drag, and read to me from the bible (kenan), Monday, 9 November 2009 14:19 (sixteen years ago)

i only missed one on that quiz by the way - toyota - but i'll admit that mattel was a toss-up as well

if there's a lowercase t or s it's easy

― Tracer Hand, Monday, 9 November 2009 14:25 (sixteen years ago)

19/20 i find s and lowercase e the easiest to distinguish

― just sayin, Monday, 9 November 2009 14:25 (sixteen years ago)

c as well. arial has the ends all chopped off at jaunty angles.

― George Mucus (ledge), Monday, 9 November 2009 14:26 (sixteen years ago)

14/20 - not so great.

(I think I'm starting to prefer Arial argh! I like the jaunty angles)

― Persian Pickle (Masonic Boom), Monday, 9 November 2009 14:27 (sixteen years ago)

strangely i like the jaunty angles in akzidenz-grotesk but loathe them in arial.. no idea why

there's just something so pleasingly balanced about akzidenz-grotesk, yet also something ever so slightly handmade about it

― Tracer Hand, Monday, 9 November 2009 14:33 (sixteen years ago)

eight months pass...

http://www.creativereview.co.uk/cr-blog/2010/july/the-helvetica-killer

― les yeux sans aerosmith (underrated aerosmith albums I have loved), Tuesday, 20 July 2010 19:36 (fifteen years ago)

one month passes...

watched helvetica last night

http://i975.photobucket.com/albums/ae232/daggerlee/thumbsdown.jpg

― shorn_blond.avi (dayo), Friday, 3 September 2010 04:12 (fifteen years ago)

wish i could have voted comic sans in this poll

― max, Friday, 3 September 2010 04:12 (fifteen years ago)

yeah even for a movie about fonts helvetica was pretty fuckin boring

― office (max) (Whiney G. Weingarten), Friday, 3 September 2010 04:14 (fifteen years ago)

basically it was like "we interviewed some graphic designers about helvetica" "then we connected the scenes with shots of helvetica in use around a city" "fin"

― shorn_blond.avi (dayo), Friday, 3 September 2010 04:15 (fifteen years ago)

would have been really fascinating with like a 30 minute run time

― office (max) (Whiney G. Weingarten), Friday, 3 September 2010 04:17 (fifteen years ago)

when I was in hs I was taking a class at the local city college and while in the library I remember hearing one guy tell another guy that a good way to make your essays hit the page req while staying in 12 pt font was to switch to arial. for some reason that is basically the only thing I think about when I think about arial.

― iatee, Friday, 3 September 2010 04:17 (fifteen years ago)

I don't really get font snobbism

― iatee, Friday, 3 September 2010 04:17 (fifteen years ago)

Wow that "death to Helvetica" guy is a moron. Akzidenz isn't modernist because it was created in 1899? Uh...

― wk, Friday, 3 September 2010 07:10 (fifteen years ago)

o-O at that Gill Sans background - I had no idea!

― Gravel Puzzleworth, Friday, 3 September 2010 08:37 (fifteen years ago)

the extras on the helvetica dvd (same designers talking but not about a font) are more interesting than the movie

― caek, Friday, 3 September 2010 08:52 (fifteen years ago)

liked the movie. not so much as a study of the font, but as an examination of the ideas and personalities of a bunch of designers.

― a dystopian society awaits if we continue on this path. (contenderizer), Friday, 3 September 2010 08:54 (fifteen years ago)

one month passes...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-11517129

http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/49467000/jpg/_49467848_gap2_comp304.jpg

Can't even believe the new/rejected logo was real. It looks like something from a 1st year design student.

― buju_stanton (Hurting 2), Tuesday, 12 October 2010 13:49 (fifteen years ago)

Gapmoreliekcrapamirite???/
Bet it still cost a million dollars.

― Les centimètres énigmatiques (snoball), Tuesday, 12 October 2010 13:55 (fifteen years ago)

Could start a trend though. So I'm going to set up a graphic design company that only uses MS WordArt.

― Les centimètres énigmatiques (snoball), Tuesday, 12 October 2010 13:55 (fifteen years ago)

ok i just made them a new logo

― markers, Tuesday, 12 October 2010 14:04 (fifteen years ago)

http://i53.tinypic.com/11vjfqs.jpg

― markers, Tuesday, 12 October 2010 14:04 (fifteen years ago)

those people are having a good time.

― progressive cuts (Tracer Hand), Tuesday, 12 October 2010 14:05 (fifteen years ago)

http://www.teacherfiles.com/free_word_art.htm

― Les centimètres énigmatiques (snoball), Tuesday, 12 October 2010 14:07 (fifteen years ago)

rejected logo looks like a box of nicotine patches

― progressive cuts (Tracer Hand), Tuesday, 12 October 2010 14:07 (fifteen years ago)

http://ws.xara.com/graphicrender/renderimg.asp?sid=D41D6B4A0AAB4CFBA8F5EBD0BA90F759
That's more like it.

― buju_stanton (Hurting 2), Tuesday, 12 October 2010 14:11 (fifteen years ago)

New logo is like Gap finally updated its image... for the mid 90s.

― buju_stanton (Hurting 2), Tuesday, 12 October 2010 14:12 (fifteen years ago)

wonder how much of the thinking that went into that decision was a result of response to american apparel. I remember walking by a gap for the first time in forever and seeing AA-themed displays, with big chunks of helvetica text.

― dayo, Tuesday, 12 October 2010 14:16 (fifteen years ago)

its not an inspiring logo but it's competent on a basic corporate level so who fucking cares. srsly who are these people who protest it to the point where Gap decide to scrap it (maybe this is just Gap being weak idk)? and do they really think Gap's original logo is actually good/better?

― sock lobster (blueski), Tuesday, 12 October 2010 14:41 (fifteen years ago)

Nah, Gap's original logo is kind of awful too, and it's definitely weird that people feel such a stake in it. But it is kind of an important thing for a fashion brand to have a good logo.

― buju_stanton (Hurting 2), Tuesday, 12 October 2010 14:44 (fifteen years ago)

gaps original logo is great

― max, Tuesday, 12 October 2010 14:45 (fifteen years ago)

http://www.retro-housewife.com/images/fashion/1960/gap-1969.jpg

― max, Tuesday, 12 October 2010 14:46 (fifteen years ago)

http://www.craplogo.me/logos/ILX_logo.png

― buju_stanton (Hurting 2), Tuesday, 12 October 2010 14:46 (fifteen years ago)

Worked on it for a while what do you guys think?

― buju_stanton (Hurting 2), Tuesday, 12 October 2010 14:47 (fifteen years ago)

even the color scheme is pretty cool, max

― once a remy bean always a (remy bean), Tuesday, 12 October 2010 14:47 (fifteen years ago)

and the t/h kerning is pretty rad

― once a remy bean always a (remy bean), Tuesday, 12 October 2010 14:48 (fifteen years ago)

if i was gap looking for a way to rebrand i woulda just gone back to their old ca 1969 logo but

― max, Tuesday, 12 October 2010 14:48 (fifteen years ago)

the 9ap

― dayo, Tuesday, 12 October 2010 14:48 (fifteen years ago)

anyway self-described internet 'design nerds' and mad men obsessives who think they are branding experts are among the biggest savages on the internet

― max, Tuesday, 12 October 2010 14:49 (fifteen years ago)

http://www.craplogo.me/logos/dayo_logo.png

― dayo, Tuesday, 12 October 2010 14:50 (fifteen years ago)

Yeah seriously they should just use the original store look/logo nationwide. It's kind of awesome.

― buju_stanton (Hurting 2), Tuesday, 12 October 2010 14:52 (fifteen years ago)

yeah the original 60s gap letters (hadn't actually seen these before) are great but i'm a huge fan of letters featuring or enabling perfect circles. i'd bring a slightly modified version of that back. maybe some kind of GAP between the two sides of the 'a'.

― sock lobster (blueski), Tuesday, 12 October 2010 14:57 (fifteen years ago)

i sometimes do a double-take when i see the actual gap logo because it is actually so stodgy and stupid and martha stewart-esque. i can see why they'd want to get away from it. but ultimately, who gives a fuck?

― progressive cuts (Tracer Hand), Tuesday, 12 October 2010 14:59 (fifteen years ago)

they could've just left the square out, made the text the company blue and nobody would think it was bad (just "lazy")

― sock lobster (blueski), Tuesday, 12 October 2010 15:02 (fifteen years ago)

http://base58.com/ilx/gaplogo1.png

― sock lobster (blueski), Tuesday, 12 October 2010 15:14 (fifteen years ago)

what's that strange character after the C?

― doo doo frown :( (Stevie D), Tuesday, 12 October 2010 15:21 (fifteen years ago)

idk, but i like it!

― sock lobster (blueski), Tuesday, 12 October 2010 15:30 (fifteen years ago)

Make the blue part square, because then a) the new logo is the old logo and the old old logo, b) the new logo can be stuck over the old sign on store fronts, etc..

― Les centimètres énigmatiques (snoball), Tuesday, 12 October 2010 15:55 (fifteen years ago)

nah keeping the square as part of the logo clashes with the circles imo

― sock lobster (blueski), Tuesday, 12 October 2010 15:59 (fifteen years ago)

I think the square is necessary otherwise it kind of goes towards Benetton territory.

― Les centimètres énigmatiques (snoball), Tuesday, 12 October 2010 16:02 (fifteen years ago)

R.I.P. Gap logo!

― doo doo frown :( (Stevie D), Tuesday, 12 October 2010 16:15 (fifteen years ago)

http://consumerist.com/2010/10/gap-scraps-crap-logo.html

― doo doo frown :( (Stevie D), Tuesday, 12 October 2010 16:15 (fifteen years ago)

uh, Stevie?

― progressive cuts (Tracer Hand), Tuesday, 12 October 2010 16:18 (fifteen years ago)

hm?

― doo doo frown :( (Stevie D), Tuesday, 12 October 2010 16:21 (fifteen years ago)

Oh, that bbc link talked about how they got rid of it...

― doo doo frown :( (Stevie D), Tuesday, 12 October 2010 16:22 (fifteen years ago)

http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/dailypolitics/EMILY%20LITELLA.jpg

― doo doo frown :( (Stevie D), Tuesday, 12 October 2010 16:27 (fifteen years ago)

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_pXzx6ZOlFJI/TENpO0oGi7I/AAAAAAAADL8/nQv1FXOtWHs/S1600-R/mind-the-gap.jpg

― Les centimètres énigmatiques (snoball), Tuesday, 12 October 2010 17:24 (fifteen years ago)

nine months pass...

both terrible

― caek, Saturday, 6 August 2011 00:59 (fourteen years ago)

eight years pass...

do you guys know that ilx is in atrial

― treeship., Thursday, 16 April 2020 18:16 (five years ago)

arial*

why not helvetica?

― treeship., Thursday, 16 April 2020 18:16 (five years ago)

arial fibbing

― nashwan, Thursday, 16 April 2020 18:53 (five years ago)

treeship's post prompted me to change my stylesheet to swisshelvetica and now I feel like I'm losing my mind

― dip to dup (rob), Thursday, 16 April 2020 19:33 (five years ago)

just did the same. the text now has helvetica's protestant solidity but the color scheme reminds me of velvet couches from the 70s filled with bedbugs.

― treeship., Thursday, 16 April 2020 20:03 (five years ago)

one way i used to waste time was changing the fonts on my blog over and over. i think i settled on this one called arimo which was the closest i could get to classic helvetty.

― treeship., Thursday, 16 April 2020 20:04 (five years ago)

Gill Sans 'cause I like my typefaces designed by incestuous zoophiliac sexual abusers (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eric_Gill#Controversies)
― ledge,Thursday, January 10, 2008 7:19 AM (twelve years ago) bookmarkflaglink

holy shit. my masters capstone included a blog component and that one was in gill sans. do you think that's why i didn't score the A+?

― treeship., Thursday, 16 April 2020 20:06 (five years ago)

sadly, yes

― dip to dup (rob), Thursday, 16 April 2020 20:12 (five years ago)

i wish i hadn’t just now experimented with changing stylesheets. how do i make it revert to normal ?

― budo jeru, Thursday, 16 April 2020 20:12 (five years ago)

I went crying back to the arms of new.css

― dip to dup (rob), Thursday, 16 April 2020 20:13 (five years ago)

okay i just logged out and cleared my browser history, that seems to have worked.

― budo jeru, Thursday, 16 April 2020 20:16 (five years ago)

rob that was wise

― Li'l Brexit (Tracer Hand), Thursday, 16 April 2020 21:29 (five years ago)

three months pass...

one way i used to waste time was changing the fonts on my blog over and over. i think i settled on this one called arimo which was the closest i could get to classic helvetty.
― treeship., Thursday, April 16, 2020 4:04 PM (three months ago) bookmarkflaglink

update: the headings are still arimo on my blog, but i went with PT Sans for the body. this was a font developed by the russian government that for some reason is a default option on wordpress.

― treeship., Friday, 14 August 2020 02:14 (five years ago)

voted anal

― popeye's arse (Neanderthal), Friday, 14 August 2020 03:57 (five years ago)

three months pass...

https://steidl.de//assets/images/-UTQ3ZSOYIinwfk9oDTU4fTpe2tJU718M1iIdmN3SzQfWuCm9jqmw9jI0o7aEKUE+QqjgKA==/9783958295025_1.jpg.png

The idea that unkerned Arial has come within 1000 km of a Steidl book cover is causing me distress.

This book is not yet published; one can only hope they'll fix it up before it goes to press.

<<<shudder>>>

― Hans Holbein (Chinchilla Volapük), Sunday, 22 November 2020 07:11 (five years ago)

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