Hello,

I have been searching now for quite awhile for the name of the font
Microsoft uses for their corporate logo.  What I would like is this:

1) The name of the font Microsoft uses for their corporate branding
(i.e. logo).

2) Where I could find this font OR a similarly-styled font online for
download.

A great answer would provide a free font site where I would find the
font I desire, not just a site with pages upon pages of free
downloadable fonts.  I want only a "Microsoft-logo styled" font.

Please request clarification if needed!  Thanks!

Hello Karizma23,

This is quite an interesting question for me. As suggested by my
colleague, Pinkfreud, Franklin Gothic Italic is quite near to the font
style used for the Microsoft logo. I checked it and found out that
there is a slight difference with the "c" and shapes of the letter.
You could, however, use it because this small difference can only be
noticed upon closer examination. Of course I understand that you want
the exact font so I did some more sleuthing. I found an interesting
site below. Simply press the "Shift" key before clicking on a link so
it will open a new window or right-click on the link and choose "Open
in New Window" for your convenience.

ArtToday.com -- ClipArt.com
Graphics Chat Forums
http://www.graphicschat.com/showflat.php?Cat=&Board=UBB5&Number=45102&page=0&view=collapsed&sb=5&o=&fpart=1

It is a forum site for people looking for fonts, graphic, icons, and
the likes. You can clearly see that Helvetica Black Italic is
mentioned as the font used for Microsoft's logo. I found that font at
Fonts.com. It is perhaps the biggest download site for fonts but,
unfortunately, it ain't free. Again, I checked it and I can say that
it is the font you are looking for -- except for that notch on first
"o" which is part of Microsoft's trademark. You can see the font
through this link:

Fonts.com
Helvetica 96 Black Italic
http://www.fonts.com/findfonts/detail.asp?pid=201468

You can see other Helvetica variations on this page:

Fonts.com
Helvetica Font Variations
http://www.fonts.com/findfonts/identifontframe.asp?sid=DPJT3B9FHQTL9LR26JTKMPL91LW66JL7&con=identifont

So we found it at last. Here's the catch - you have to pay for it. I
know you expect a great answer which is to get a free download site
for the said font but unfortunately, it's not free. Even if you open
the links from my last "search strategy" link below, all roads lead to
Fonts.com. Since you now know the font, you can probably get it for
free through your friends who have it.


Search strategy:

"font used" "microsoft logo"
://www.google.com/search?num=100&hl=en&lr=&ie=ISO-8859-1&newwindow=1&safe=off&q=%22font+used%22+%22microsoft+logo%22

"microsoft logo font"
://www.google.com/search?num=100&hl=en&lr=&ie=ISO-8859-1&newwindow=1&safe=off&q=%22microsoft+logo+font%22

"free font" "free download" helvetica
://www.google.com/search?num=100&hl=en&lr=&ie=ISO-8859-1&newwindow=1&safe=off&q=%22free+font%22+%22free+download%22+helvetica

I hope this helps you. Should you have any comments/questions, please
feel free to post your clarification before rating this and I'll
attend to you as soon as possible. Thanks for asking.

Regards,
Feilong

feilong-ga:  Thank you kindly for your research!  It is great to
finally know the font, as it is something I've been trying to find for
quite a while.  It's unfortunate that the font is not available for
free, but I realize that this is out of your control and it certainly
does not diminish the quality of your answer.  Thank you for your
help!

http://www.ap-ag.com/Unternehmen/Partner/Logos/microsoft-logo-klein.gif

I believe the Microsoft logo font (as shown in the image linked above)
is Franklin Gothic Italic. As far as I can tell, it is not available
for free.

http://www.myfonts.com/fonts/bitstream/franklin-gothic/italic/

Excellent work, Feilong! Helvetica Black Italic certainly looks like
the correct font to me!

Thanks Pink. Now we know. :-)

The font notwithstanding, I was pleased to learn of the trick with the
'shift' left click to open an internet target in a new window. I've
been using the web for years and yet tediously file, new, window...
You guys keep us from becoming "old dogs" with "new tricks". Thanks.

Hi Krizma23,

i was looking for the same font some months ago. There are two
substitute fonts which you could use insted of Helvetica, their names
are "Swiss 721" and "Switzerland". They look exactly the same, and
they are available for free.
I downloaded "Swiss 721" at http://www.clipserver.de/Fonts/index.html

I agree with Patrick78. His suggestions are also good substitutes for
the Microsoft logo font. However, there is a slight but virtually
unnoticeable difference with the small letter 'r' and the length of
the end curves of the letter 's'. Nevertheless, this is a great
suggestion. Thanks Patrick.

Internal to Microsoft programming and system tools, the corporate logo
font is referenced in a few varying ways:

"MSLOGO" = "bold and italicized Microsoft Logo font"

"Microsoft Logo" = "\\Windows\\msgothic.ttc,MS PGothic"

As far as any official documentation I have come across is concerned,
the official Microsoft logo font is "internal use only".  I do not
beleive you will be able to legally obtain an identicle copy of this
font.

Microsoft Corporate Logo Guidelines:
<http://www.microsoft.com/trademarks/t-mark/ms-Guide.htm>