Typeface first
Brat font generator: find the one that actually matches
The cover is Arial, stretched sideways, in lowercase. That is the whole secret. Type your words below and switch between seven faces to see how far you can push it before it stops reading as brat.
Change the font dropdown below and compare. The blur starts low so you can see the letterforms.
Press Enter for a new line. Up to 600 characters.
The cover you remember sits around 3. Push it to 8 for the smeared look.
Charli's cover uses Arial pulled wider. 1.15 is close.
The short answer
Arial. Regular weight, not bold. Lowercase. Stretched to roughly 115 percent of its normal width, which flattens the letters just enough to feel slightly off. No custom typeface was drawn for the record, and nothing was licensed. That is part of the point: Charli XCX has said she picked Arial because it has no opinion, then stretched it so it had one.
Our longer piece on the brat font goes through how the studio arrived there and what to do if your device has no Arial.
What each option is good for
| Font | Verdict | Use it when |
|---|---|---|
| Brat classic (Arial) | The right answer | What the record uses. Set stretch to 1.15 and leave it alone. |
| Arial Narrow | Good for long words | Fits more characters per line. Reads as a different design, not a bad one. |
| Impact | Loud | Heavier than the original. Holds up well at avatar size where Arial thins out. |
| Phone default | Consistent everywhere | Uses whatever sans your device ships with. Never fails to load, never quite matches. |
| Times serif | Deliberately wrong | The joke version. Serifs on a brat cover read as parody, which some people want. |
| Courier mono | Ransom note energy | Even spacing gives it a typewriter feel. Needs a big margin to breathe. |
| Comic Sans | You know what you did | Popular for group chat covers. Do not use it for a real release. |
Why the stretch slider matters more than the font
Swap Arial for almost any grotesque sans and stretch it the same amount, and most people cannot tell. Leave the stretch at 1.0 and even genuine Arial looks wrong. The proportion is doing the work.
Between 1.10 and 1.20 is the range that reads as the record. Below 1.0 the letters go condensed and the cover starts to look like a fashion label. Above 1.4 it turns into a stretched screenshot, which is its own look but not this one.
On Android, start at 1.25 instead Android substitutes Roboto for Arial. Roboto is naturally narrower, so it needs a little more stretch to land in the same place.
Keep going
Font questions
What font is used on the brat album cover?
Arial, lowercase, stretched horizontally. Not a custom typeface and not a paid font. Charli XCX has described choosing Arial because it is unpretentious, then stretching it to give it some personality.
Is it Arial or Arial Narrow?
The cover is regular Arial pulled wider, not Arial Narrow, which goes the other way. People reach for Narrow because the letters on the record look tightly packed, but that comes from the letters being large in the frame rather than from a condensed face.
Do I need to install a font to use this?
No. Every face here already ships with your operating system, which is why the page loads instantly and works with the wifi off. Nothing is downloaded.
Why does the font look different on Android?
Android does not include Arial. It substitutes Roboto, which is slightly narrower and has a different lowercase g. Push the stretch slider up by about 0.1 and the difference mostly disappears.
Can I use a Google Font instead?
You can get close with Liberation Sans, which is metrically identical to Arial, or Helvetica if you have it. We left web fonts out on purpose: loading one adds a second of blank text on a slow connection, and this tool is not worth a second of anyone's time.
Which font works best at small sizes?
Arial with the blur under 2. Impact holds up too. Times and Comic Sans fall apart below about 200 pixels, so avoid them for avatars.